MANY- SI 

N  A  V  * 


R.W.NEESE 


!    i  i 


AT   LOS  ANGELES 


G.  E.  Stechert  &  Co. 

Alfred  Hafner 

New  York 


, 


OUR   MANY-SIDED  NAVY 


BY  THE   SAME   AUTHOR 


A  LANDSMAN'S  LOG 

SECOND  EDITION— REVISED  AND  ENLARGED 

8vo.      Cloth  binding.    215  pages.    40  illustrations.    42  pages 
of  appendix.      Index.      Price,    $2.00    net ;    carriage    extra. 


OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 


BY 

ROBERT  WILDEN  NEESER 


NEW   HAVEN:   YALE  UNIVERSITY   PRESS 

LONDON:   HUMPHREY   MILFORD 

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

MDCCCCXIV 


COPYRIGHT,  1914 
Br  YALE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


First  printed  June,  1914, 1500  copies 


Y- 
rO 


TO 
CHARLES   J.    BADGER 

REAR  ADMIRAL,  U.  S.  N. 
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

§  ATLANTIC  FLEET 

r- 

w 


OS. 

s 
S 

CO 


423130 


PREFACE 

All  the  world  loves  a  bluejacket,  but  not  all  the 
world  can  understand  him,  the  essentially  human 
side  of  his  life,  his  professional  enthusiasm,  his 
pride  in  his  ship,  and  his  noble,  unselfish  devotion 
to  his  country  and  to  his  flag.  All  this,  and  more, 
the  landsman  may  be  willing  to  believe ;  but  grasp 
it  he  cannot  unless  he  has  actually  made  the  ship 
at  sea  his  home,  messed  with  her  officers  and 
mingled  with  her  crew,  and  absorbed  the  atmos- 
phere— unlike  anything  on  shore — that  pervades 
every  compartment  of  that  great  floating  commu- 
nity of  a  thousand  souls  encased  within  those 
walls  of  steel. 

The  vital  need  of  the  navy  of  the  United  States 
today  is  to  have  the  people  of  the  United 
States  know  more  about  it  and  care  more  about 
it.  It  is  one  thing  to  have  the  navy  popular.  But 
when  that  popularity  is  accompanied  by  a  total 
ignorance  of,  and  indifference  to,  the  nature  and 
meaning  of  the  service,  it  is  a  doubtful  advantage, 
calculated  to  do  harm  rather  than  good.  Let  the 
people  understand  that  the  navy  is  a  most  serious 
institution,  the  service  an  earnest  business,  and 
the  uniform  not  merely  brass  buttons  and  gold 
lace;  that  upon  its  efficiency  and  well-being 


viii  PREFACE 

depends  our  national  safety;  that  it  was  a  navy 
(the  French)  which  made  sure  our  independence, 
and  our  own  navy  which,  in  the  War  of  1812, 
preserved  this  independence,  and  again,  in  the 
Civil  War,  saved  us  from  dismemberment — for, 
without  the  blockade,  we  should  never  have  over- 
come the  South.  Let  the  American  people  fully 
appreciate  these  reasons  and  their  navy's  sense 
of  honor  and  efficiency,  which  have  made  it  the 
greatest  institution  this  country  possesses,  and 
then  let  popularity  follow  in  the  navy's  wake. 

This  book  is  a  statement  of  facts.  I  have 
written  it  that  others  may  have  the  opportunity 
of  acquainting  themselves  with  the  truth  concern- 
ing our  navy  and  what  it  stands  for.  Only  by 
means  of  such  knowledge  can  the  people  of  this 
country  realize  what  their  navy  really  is  and 
does,  and  judge  more  intelligently  those  "ways 
of  the  service"  that  mean  and  accomplish  so 
much. 

To  my  friends  in  the  service  I  trust  no  apology 
is  needed,  except  to  express  a  most  genuine  sense 
of  temerity  in  treading  upon  ground  so  full  of 
pitfalls  for  the  civilian.  My  only  excuse  is  the 
ungrudging  help,  frank  criticism,  and  encourage- 
ment which  I  have  constantly  received  from  them 
both  afloat  and  ashore.  To  them  belongs  the 
credit  for  whatever  technical  merits  this  work 
may  possess ;  the  errors  are  assuredly  my  own. 


PREFACE  ix 

For  those  portions  of  this  book  that  previously 
appeared  in  The  Navy,  copyrighted  under  the 
serial  title  of  "An  American  Fleet  in  Being,"  I 
wish  to  thank  the  editor  of  that  periodical  for 
his  kind  consent  to  republication.  While  some  of 
these  chapters  have  been  reprinted  without  modi- 
fication, substantial  additions  have  been  made  to 
others,  and  new  material  has  been  drawn  upon  in 
an  effort  to  present  more  fully  the  various  phases 
of  the  life  in  our  navy  that  should  be  known  to 
every  true  citizen  of  this  great  republic. 

February,  1914. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface     ........  Til 

Introduction      .......  1 

The  Fleet  at  Sea 8 

The  Naval  Station  at  Guantanamo  Bay        .         .  25 

The  Organization  of  the  Ship       ....  36 

The  Bluejacket's  Daily  Life        ....  54 

The  Battleship  as  an  Educational  Institution        .  65 

The  Engineering  Competitions    ....  77 

Athletics  in  the  Navy          .....  94 

The  Sailor  as  Soldier 115 

The  Work  of  the  Torpedo  Flotillas      .         .         .133 

Gunnery  Training     ......  156 

Target  Practice 173 

Appendix  I.     The  Navy's  Services  in  Times  of 

Peace 199 

Appendix  II.     Organization  and  Distribution  of 

the  Navy,  February  1, 1914  .         .         .         .205 
Appendix  III.     The  Organization  of  the  Ship     .  210 
Appendix  IV.     The    Weekly    Routine    on    Ship- 
board            212 

Index  215 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTBATIONS 

BATTLING  WITH  THE  ELEMENTS  .         .         Frontispiece 

Facing 
Page 

THE  WYOMING'S  UPPER  DECK  SEEN  FROM  THE 

FORETOP      .......  8 

THE  FIRST  DIVISION  OF  THE  ATLANTIC  FLEET         .  12 

BATTLESHIPS  MAKING  AN  "APPROACH"        .         .  18 

ON  THE  SOUTHERN  DRILL  GROUND        ...  26 

PITCHING  TENTS  ON  DEER  POINT  ....  34 

FOUL  WEATHER 42 

OFF  DUTY         .......  48 

"SCRUB  AND  WASH  CLOTHES"    ....  56 

"PEELING  SPUDS" 58 

AIRING  BEDDING  ON  THE  FORECASTLE    ...  64 

SETTING-UP  EXERCISES        .....  70 

MAIL  DAY 74 

COALING  SHIP 78 

THE  U.  S.  S.  UTAH  IN  A  SEAWAY  ....  84 

THE  BATTLESHIP  WYOMING'S  FORWARD  TURRETS  .  90 

A  DESTROYER  DIVISION  IN  CRUISING  FORMATION    .  92 

AN  IMPROMPTU  BOXING  BOUT     ....  98 

BOAT  EACE 102 

MAP  SHOWING  DISPOSITION  OF  SHIPS  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES  NAVY  ON  FEBRUARY  12,  1914      .         .  104 

A  SAILING  RACE        ......  106 

THE  KANSAS 's  RACE  BOAT  OUT  FOR  A  PRACTICE 

PULL 110 

THE      CONNECTICUT     LANDING      FORCE      GOING 

ASHORE  112 


xiv  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Facing 
Page 

THE  WYOMING'S  FORECASTLE      ....  116 

THE  U.  S.  S.  THORNTON  IN  A  GALE      .         .         .122 

ON  THE  MARCH          ......  124 

A  SKIRMISH  DRILL     ......  126 

A  WALL-SCALING  DRILL     .....  128 

DISEMBARKING  THE  LANDING  FORCE     .         .         .  132 

CHARGING  THE  TORPEDOES  ON  A  DESTROYER  .         .  134 

LAUNCHING  A  TORPEDO  FROM  A  DESTROYER    .         .  142 

MINE  LAYING     .......  146 

A  SUBMARINE  GROUP  MANOEUVRING  ON  THE  SUR- 
FACE .......  150 

A  GUN  CREW  AT  LOADING  DRILL  ....  156 

A  SEVEN-INCH  GUN  CREW  IN  ACTION  .         .         .  162 

THE  BATTLESHIP  KANSAS  's  BROADSIDE  .         .         .  166 
ON    TOP    OF    AN    EIGHT-INCH    TURRET    DURING 

"DOTTER"  PRACTICE    .....  168 

DECK  SCENE  ON  THE  FLAGSHIP  WYOMING  DURING 

SUB-CALIBER  TARGET-PRACTICE       .         .         .  174 

A  SALVO  OF  TWELVE-INCH  SHELL  LANDING.     A 
VIEW  OF  BIG  GUN-PRACTICE  FROM  THE  SHIP 

TOWING  THE  TARGET  RAFT   ....  178 

DIVISIONAL  TARGET-PRACTICE       ....  184 

"COMING  ON  THE  RANGE  "  192 


OUR  MANY-SIDED   NAVY 


INTRODUCTION 

About  the  first  of  January  of  each  year  we 
read  in  the  daily  press  that  the  battleships, 
cruisers,  and  torpedo  vessels  comprising  the 
Atlantic  Fleet  have  sailed  from  their  respective 
home  ports  for  the  Caribbean  Sea,  where,  with 
Guantanamo  Bay  as  a  base,  their  time  will  be 
taken  up  with  manoeuvres  and  other  exercises 
until  their  return  north  in  the  early  months  of 
spring.  Then,  no  further  news,  except  perhaps 
an  occasional  insertion  of  a  few  lines  when 
something  out  of  the  ordinary  has  happened. 

"But  what  do  they  do  with  themselves?"  No 
wonder  the  taxpayer  asks  the  question.  The  last 
time  he  saw  the  ships  they  were  moored  for  his 
inspection  in  a  line  many  miles  long  off  Riverside 
Drive,  and  six  regiments  of  bluejackets  and 
marines,  six  thousand  strong,  paraded  the  length 
of  Manhattan  Island,  to  the  delight  of  the 
assembled  multitude.  Then,  one  fine  afternoon, 
the  taxpayer  went  on  board  a  Dreadnought, 
which,  he  was  told,  was  more  powerful  than  any 
ship  any  other  nation  then  had.  He  walked  the 
sacred  quarterdeck,  saw  the  crew's  galley, 
entered  one  of  the  massive  twelve-inch  turrets, 
peered  into  the  muzzle  of  a  fifty-foot-long  gun, 


2  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

and  perhaps  descended  into  the  engine-room. 
Then  he  went  home.  He  told  his  family  about 
it,  and  described  everything  he  had  seen  to  his 
friends.  When  he  came  to  think  it  over,  how- 
ever— what  was  it  all  about?  He  had  been  over 
the  entire  ship,  from  stem  to  stern,  from  keel  to 
truck,  yet  his  visit  had  resulted  only  in  a  confused 
impression  of  guns,  machinery,  and  cramped 
spaces.  Of  the  "ways  of  the  service"  he  had 
seen  nothing;  of  the  human  side  of  naval  life  he 
had  not  had  a  glimpse.  His  visit  to  that  Dread- 
nought at  anchor  within  those  sheltered  waters 
had  been  like  a  glance  at  a  famous  race  horse  or 
hunter  in  a  box-stall. 

"But  what  do  they  do  with  themselves?"  No 
wonder  he  repeated  the  question.  At  the  time 
that  he  had  seen  the  fleet — the  battle-fleet  of  the 
navy — both  ships  and  men  had  been  "on  a 
holiday."  Only  during  the  few  hours  of  actual 
review  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  had  conditions 
approximated  those  of  normal  naval  life.  The 
remainder  of  the  time,  officers  and  men  had  been 
on  leave,  enjoying  a  well-earned  vacation  after 
months  of  uninterrupted  attention  to  their  duty, 
while  only  part  of  the  ships '  companies  remained 
on  board  to  man  the  vessels  in  case  of  emergency. 

But  that  was  now  over.  The  fleet  had  sailed 
on  its  winter  cruise — the  "busy  season"  they  call 


INTRODUCTION  3 

it — one  of  the  two  most  active  periods  of  the 
navy's  annual  program.  From  the  moment  the 
signal  boys  on  the  Admiral's  bridge  had  hoisted 
the  flags  that  spelled  the  order,  "Get  nnder  way," 
every  man  of  the  eighteen  thousand  had  had  his 
allotted  share  of  the  work  to  do,  and  from  that 
minute  the  success  or  failure  of  the  next  few 
months  depended  upon  how  well  each  officer  and 
enlisted  man  performed  his  small  part  of  the 
entire  task.  For,  on  the  day  of  battle,  everyone, 
from  the  admiral  down  to  the  youngest  blue- 
jacket, has  his  share  of  responsibility.  However 
good  the  gun-pointer  may  be,  unless  he  has  an 
admiral  or  captain  who  can  put  him  in  the  right 
place  at  the  right  time,  good  shooting  will  not 
avail  much. 

Four  hundred  and  twenty-five  men  are  actively 
engaged  in  the  loading  and  aiming  of  the  main 
battery  guns  of  one  of  our  largest  Dreadnoughts 
every  time  she  fires  a  broadside.  For  the 
majority  of  them,  target-practice  means  nothing 
more  than  the  rapid  passing  up  of  dozens  of 
eighty-pound  powder  bags.  Down  in  the  handling 
rooms  and  sub-stations,  or  inside  the  armored 
turrets,  the  men  see  nothing  of  the  spectacular 
side  of  the  proceeding,  which  has  so  justly  been 
called  "the  greatest  of  all  games."  Only  a  mere 
score  see  the  flash,  the  hurried  flight  of  the  pro- 
jectiles as  they  curve  gracefully  through  the  air, 


4  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

the  splashes  caused  by  their  fall  into  the  sea, 
and  the  rents  in  the  target-screens.  These  men 
are  the  pointers  and  trainers,  three  for  each 
turret,  who  aim  the  guns  when  they  are  fired,  and 
the  spotters  aloft,  who  note  the  fall  of  the  shot 
and  correct  the  errors  in  range  and  deflection 
that  are  apt  to  occur.  Yet  success  depends  as 
much  upon  the  four  hundred  and  five  who  do  not 
see  what  is  going  on,  as  upon  the  twenty  who  do, 
and  the  secret  of  that  success  lies  in  the  manner 
in  which  each  and  every  man  plays  his  role.  It  is 
when  you  think  of  it  in  this  light  that  you  can 
appreciate  what  success  means,  and  understand 
better  than  before  what  the  men  of  the  navy  do 
with  themselves  during  the  sixteen  weeks  of  the 
winter  cruise  and  the  five  summer  months  that 
usually  are  spent  in  New  England  waters. 

A  careful  and  almost  minute  training  of  the 
personnel  is,  then,  the  occupation  of  the  many 
months  spent  out  of  port.  Every  man  is  told 
exactly  what  to  do,  and  then  he  is  made  to  do  it 
time  and  again,  until  he  has  mastered  every  detail 
so  absolutely  that  he  moves  instinctively  at  the 
first  note  of  the  bugle-call. 

Monotonous?  Yes;  but  not  monotonous  on 
account  of  undue  repetition ;  for  the  gradual  and 
systematic  training  of  the  battleship's  company, 
which  begins  with  the  instruction  of  the  indi- 
vidual, comprises  many  phases  that  tend  to  make 


INTRODUCTION  5 

the  life  on  board  ship  one  of  much  change  and 
variety.  Every  day  the  same  thing  happens,  yet 
no  two  days  are  alike.  A  glance  at  the  last  few 
pages  of  the  "Ship  and  Gun  Drill"  manual  will 
reveal  this,  in  the  hundred  and  one  bugle-calls 
that  indicate  the  diversity  of  the  naval  routine. 
Loading  drills,  fire  drills,  collision  drills,  anchor 
drills,  general  quarters,  torpedo  drills,  abandon- 
ship  drills — these,  and  many  more,  find  a  place 
in  the  busy  life  of  the  bluejacket  afloat.  But 
with  this  strenuous  and  unremitting  labor, 
amusements  and  recreations  are  interspersed 
in  numberless  ways — concerts,  beach  parties, 
boat  races,  baseball  games,  and  boxing  com- 
petitions following  exercises,  practices,  and 
inspections — in  order  to  promote  the  health  and 
contentment  of  the  personnel,  and  ensure  the 
battle  efficiency  of  each  ship  as  a  unit  of  the  fleet. 
But  why  should  the  fleet  continually  have  to 
leave  its  home  port  and  spend  so  much  time  at 
sea  doing  what,  in  the  opinion  of  the  average 
landsman,  could  be  accomplished  just  as  well,  and 
much  more  economically,  alongside  the  dock  in 
the  navy  yard?  That  is  what  we  did  years  ago. 
Yes,  'tis  true — sad,  but  true.  We  did  it.  But 
before  long  we  came  to  realize  that  the  naval 
officer  and  the  men  he  commands  cannot  be  made 
efficient  without  the  constant  experience  of  the 
sea.  The  sea  itself  is  the  one  element  of  the 


6  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

seaman's  experience  that  cannot  be  reduced  to 
book-knowledge.  It  must  be  assimilated  on  the 
quarterdeck,  on  the  bridge  of  a  sea-going  ship  at 
sea,  and  in  the  engine-room  of  a  sea-going  ship 
under  way.  Compare  the  despatches  of  the  rival 
English  and  French  commanders  in  the  great 
naval  campaign  of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  and  you 
will  have  an  answer  that  needs  no  further  expla- 
nation. ' '  To  being  so  long  at  sea, ' '  wrote  Nelson, 
"do  we  attribute  our  being  so  healthy";  and  the 
pathetic  words  of  Villeneuve:  "The  squadron 
appeared  very  fine  in  port,  the  crews  drilling 
well;  but  as  soon  as  a  storm  came,  all  was 
changed.  They  were  not  drilled  in  storms." 

Ships,  like  human  beings,  have  their  peculiari- 
ties. Those  in  command  and  those  on  board  must 
learn  their  ways,  study  their  defects,  and  know 
how  to  make  use  of  them  properly.  "Practice 
makes  perfect/'  and  nowhere  is  that  saying  more 
true  than  upon  the  sea.  Continuous  service 
produces  ease  in  handling  individual  ships  and 
whole  squadrons,  and  makes  improvements  in  all 
exercises  that  promote  efficiency  and  a  proper 
military  spirit.  Nor  must  it  be  thought  for  an 
instant  that  in  thus  continually  keeping  the  ships 
in  commission,  year  in  and  year  out,  "the  best 
of  their  life  and  efficiency"  is  ruthlessly  taken, 
or  that  their  boilers  and  other  machinery  are 
uselessly  "torn  to  pieces,"  as  one  journal 


INTRODUCTION  7 

insistently  prophesied  when  the  plan  to  send 
our  Atlantic  Fleet  around  the  world  was  first 
suggested.  By  keeping  the  ships  in  service 
continuously,  deterioration  is  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum. The  history  of  that  cruise  and  of  the  many 
cruises  since  that  has  demonstrated  this  beyond 
a  doubt.  And  this  is  true  not  only  of  the  ships 
themselves  and  of  their  intricate  machinery,  but 
also  of  the  crews  that  man  them  and  keep  them 
efficient  and  prepared. 


THE  FLEET  AT  SEA 

"La  navigation  est  1 'antichambre  du  combat."     Daveluy. 

The  vision  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-three 
fighting  ships  assembled  for  review  in  the  Hudson 
River  a  year  ago  last  fall,  lying  peacefully  at 
anchor  under  the  shadow  of  the  Palisades,  like 
slumbering  genii  basking  in  the  mellow  sunshine 
of  an  October  afternoon,  did  not  burst  with  any 
shock  upon  the  millions  of  people  who  saw  that 
spectacle.  It  grew,  and  gripped  them  as  it  grew, 
and  its  true  significance  came  home  to  them  as 
they  contemplated  that  steel-clad  armada,  as 
sometimes  happens  when  you  look  at  a  picture 
intently. 

What  a  grand  sight  this  peaceful  assemblage 
of  the  mighty  fleet,  the  most  powerful  ever 
mobilized  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes!  How 
impressive  those  gray  ships,  gray  from  truck 
to  waterline,  all  perfectly  aligned  and  strung  out 
in  three  long  columns — the  larger  ships  flanked 
on  either  side  by  the  smaller  craft!  Five  divi- 
sions of  battleships  there  were.  Leading  each 
division  was  a  rear  admiral's  ship,  while  at 
the  head  of  the  column  loomed  the  Connecticut, 
proudly  displaying  the  blue-starred  flag  of  the 
commander-in-chief. 


THK  WYOMING'S  UHPKR  DKCK  SF.KN  FROM  THK  FORKTOH 


THE  FLEET  AT  SEA  9 

The  citizen  layman  had  been  furnished  ocular 
proof  of  the  preparedness  of  the  service  and  of 
the  efficiency  of  its  organization.  And  this  was 
due  not  to  the  efforts  of  one  man  alone,  but  to 
the  months  of  hard  and  earnest  labor  devoted 
by  the  administrative  officers  ashore,  co-operating 
loyally  with  their  brothers-in-arms  afloat. 

The  organization  of  our  navy  into  fleets  and 
squadrons  has,  since  the  beginning,  been  guided 
by  strategic  as  well  as  administrative  reasons, 
until  today  we  find  our  vessels  grouped  in  prac- 
tically the  same  manner  as  twenty  or  even 
seventy  years  ago.  We  have  an  Atlantic  Fleet, 
a  Pacific  Fleet,  and  an  Asiatic  Fleet,  the  usual 
flotillas  of  torpedo  craft  and  submarines,  and 
Special  Service  Squadrons,  composed  of  such 
cruisers  and  gunboats  as  may  at  the  moment  be 
required  for  particular  and  detached  operations. 
In  addition,  there  are  the  Eeserve  Fleets  on  each 
coast,  composed  of  all  the  battleships  not  attached 
to  the  active  fleets,  manned  by  reduced  crews,  yet 
maintained  in  readiness  for  any  duty  they  may 
be  called  upon  to  perform. 

With  this  organization  the  question  arises, 
"Are  those  fleets  being  trained  for  the  ultimate 
end — to  fight  their  country's  battles?"  Yes. 
Until  the  spring  of  1899  we  never  had  a  " fleet"; 
our  .ships,  acting  singly,  were  handled  in  a  way 
to  delight  the  eye  of  the  most  critical  seaman; 


10  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

but,  in  fleet  formation,  their  manoeuvres  left  much 
to  be  desired.  Then  came  a  change,  and  the  years 
of  intelligent  application  that  followed  gradually 
bore  fruit,  until  today,  the  fleet,  both  personnel 
and  materiel,  has  been  trained  to  the  knowledge 
and  power  of  what  the  nation  will  demand  of  it 
in  case  of  war — to  fight  and  win  a  fleet  action. 

This  is  the  most  important  element  of  the 
"strategy  of  peace " — an  end,  however,  ever 
difficult  to  keep  in  sight.  The  fighting  value  of 
the  ship-of-war  is  as  dependent  upon  her  proper 
handling  as  upon  the  accuracy  of  her  gun-fire. 
That  efficiency  cannot  be  bought,  as  can  a  ship, 
ready-made;  it  must  be  created,  manufactured 
by  her  officers,  and  it  cannot  be  created  by  any- 
one else.  It  requires  years  of  work  and  thought 
and  study.  Even  then  that  intimate  ffl.Tni1ifl.rity 
with  the  sea  has  not  been  attained,  unless  its 
varying  conditions  have  been  studied  by  pro- 
longed service  on  the  blue  water.  The  navigation 
of  the  sea  is  a  profession  in  itself,  calling  for  a 
considerable  technical  education,  as  well  as  the 
moral  qualities  of  patience,  endurance,  discipline, 
and  imperturbable  presence  of  mind.  The  law 
of  its  being  demands  that  the  active  work  of  a 
navy  be  performed  on  the  sea.  All  attempts  to 
find  for  it  a  sphere  of  operations  elsewhere  defy 
this  law,  and  history  has  taught  us  time  and  again 
what  tragedies  have  resulted  from  indifference  to 


THE  FLEET  AT  SEA  11 

the  system  that  produced  the  great  seamen  of  the 
past.  One  may  read  and  study  about  handling 
ships,  and  this  is  no  doubt  a  good  thing  to  do; 
but  the  way — the  real  way — is  actually  to  handle 
the  ships  under  steam  at  sea.  Imagine  one's 
feelings  as  one  sees  the  evolutions  performed  by 
a  squadron  or  fleet  of  mighty  battleships,  each 
displacing  from  sixteen  to  twenty  thousand 
tons;  and  manreuvring,  too,  in  a  tumbling  sea. 
Here  they  are  wheeling,  there  shooting  ahead, 
elsewhere  stopping — all  at  the  will  and  com- 
mand of  the  master  on  the  bridge.  The  danger 
appalls  you,  especially  in  heavy  weather;  for 
the  failure  properly  to  read  a  signal,  a  mishap 
to  the  steering  gear,  or  the  slight  mishandling 
of  a  ship,  may  result  in  the  loss  of  one  or 
more  of  them.  But  such  training  accustoms 
both  officers  and  men  to  the  danger,  and  helps 
to  fit  them  to  meet  any  emergency  that  may  arise 
in  time  of  battle,  when  everything  will  depend 
upon  the  prompt  execution  of  a  signal.  Morale, 
leadership,  the  power  of  combination,  mobility, 
and  fire-power  are  all  links  of  the  same  chain, 
interdependent  factors,  and  success  depends  as 
much  upon  the  conduct  and  support  of  the  assist- 
ants, who  execute  orders  of  the  commander-in- 
chief  and  give  him  advice  when  asked,  as  upon 
the  admiral  himself. 
Without  question,  the  policy  inaugurated  by 


12  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

the  Navy  Department  some  years  ago  has  had 
much  to  do  with  the  present-day  efficiency  of  our 
active  fleets.  Regular  programs,  drawn  up  by 
each  of  the  fleet  commanders  for  their  respective 
forces,  furnished  the  officers  in  Washington,  as 
well  as  those  at  the  shore  establishments,  with 
the  information  necessary  for  the  furtherance  of 
the  progressive  work  intended.  The  routine  and 
general  work  of  the  fleet  and  of  its  divisions  and 
units  established  beforehand  a  definite  schedule 
covering  every  phase  of  activity,  and  made  for 
the  contentment,  as  well  as  the  efficiency,  of  the 
personnel  by  eliminating  the  uncertainty  that 
had  theretofore  characterized  the  navy's  work. 

The  Atlantic  Fleet  of  twenty-one  battleships, 
twenty-six  destroyers,  and  ten  submarines,  with 
attending  auxiliaries  and  supply  ships  and  col- 
liers, was  to  operate  on  our  eastern  coast, 
spending  the  year  in  such  exercises  and  cruises, 
in  home  waters  as  well  as  abroad,  as  seemed  best 
calculated  to  maintain  it  in  efficient  condition. 
In  the  Pacific  Ocean  four  armored  cruisers,  five 
destroyers,  and  four  submarines  were  to  carry 
out  the  usual  drills  and  exercises,  and,  in  addition, 
make  occasional  cruises  along  the  west  coast  to 
the  Hawaiian  Islands.  And,  finally,  there  was 
re-established  the  Asiatic  Fleet,  which  at  the 
present  time  comprises  three  cruisers,  eight  gun- 
boats, two  monitors,  five  destroyers,  and  six 


THE  FLEET  AT  SEA  13 

submarines,  whose  most  important  task  is  to  look 
after  our  many  interests  in  the  Orient.1 

Of  these  three  main  fleets,  the  most  important 
is  stationed  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  It  is  here 
that  we  have  assembled  our  battle-fleet,  the 
main  fighting  strength  of  our  sea  force;  and  the 
advantages  the  service  has  derived  from  this 
policy  are  incontestable.  The  several  battleships 
have  been  welded  into  an  efficient,  mobile  unit; 
their  crews  have  been  trained  as  never  before 
was  possible.  It  is  the  culmination  of  years  of 
endeavor  and  planning,  and  the  policy  that  has 
achieved  more  than  any  other  for  real  "  naval 
efficiency." 

The  work  of  the  various  fleets,  operating  in 
such  different  spheres  of  action,  naturally  differs 
in  many  respects.  Their  work,  in  the  main, 
has  the  one  object  in  view — training  of  the  per- 
sonnel and  the  developing  of  the  ships  into 
efficient  fighting  units.  In  this,  their  drills  and 
exercises  resemble  those  performed  by  the  drill 
fleet  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  But  here  the  simi- 
larity ends.  The  various  ' '  stationnaires, "  under 
which  head  may  be  included  all  the  vessels  not 
in  the  battle-fleet,  perform  services  of  a  character 
not  usually  known  to  the  people  of  our  country. 
For  theirs  is  the  task  of  keeping  the  peace 
locally.  In  Asiatic  waters,  our  gunboats  and 

i  See  Appendix  H. 


14  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

cruisers  are  distributed  in  Chinese  and  Philip- 
pine ports,  from  the  Yangtse  Eiver  to  Olongapo, 
ready  at  a  moment's  notice  to  help  put  down 
riots,  protect  the  foreign  settlements,  afford 
refuge  to  our  citizens,  or  chase  some  pirate 
craft;  while  on  our  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts 
the  smaller  vessels  are  constantly  called  upon  for 
service  in  Central  American  waters  and  in  the 
West  Indies  to  suppress  revolutions,  keep  the 
peace,  and  enforce  the  rights  of  the  American 
settlers.  Theirs  are  the  true  duties  of  the 
' '  cruisers ' '  in  the  days  of  peace — a  duty  to  which 
even  the  battleship  has  at  times  been  assigned, 
as  in  Mexican  waters  in  1913.  And  most  impor- 
tant have  those  tasks  been,  since,  in  the  present 
as  in  the  past,  the  main  part  of  our  diplomacy 
abroad  has  ever  been  carried  on  by  the  officers 
of  the  navy.  Of  these  services,  however,  the 
country  knows  but  little,  though  there  are  some 
particularly  notable  events,  such  as  our  dealings 
with  the  Barbary  Powers  in  1815,  and  Perry's 
opening  of  Japan  to  foreign  trade  in  1854,  which 
are  known  of  all  who  read. 

When  the  American  navy  has  carried  the 
American  flag  to  every  corner  of  the  globe,  it  has 
not  been  merely  to  redeem  what  the  present 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  called  "the  recruiting 
pledges  of  the  Navy  Department."  In  the  various 
foreign  cruises  that  our  ships-of-war  have  made, 


THE  FLEET  AT  SEA  15 

year  in  and  year  out,  there  has  often  been  a 
deeper  significance,  an  ulterior  purpose,  seeking, 
quietly  and  unostentatiously,  to  link  to  us  by  ties 
of  mutual  respect  and  esteem,  the  strangers 
whom  our  officers  and  men  met  as  they  sailed 
the  distant  seas,  carrying  American  ideas  of 
justice  and  good  government  to  every  land,  and 
rendering  to  the  peace  of  the  world  a  service  not 
to  be  reckoned  in  first-class  battleships  alone.2 
And  in  thus  sending  forth  our  national  vessels 
for  the  vindication  of  the  laws  of  civilization  or 
against  any  breach  of  the  peace,  for  kindly  and 
frequent  ministration  of  charity  and  consolation 
as  well  as  for  courtesy  and  compliment,  our 
government  has  but  employed  the  navy  on  tasks 
which,  since  its  establishment,  have  formed  no 
inconsiderable  part  of  its  complex  duties.3 

The  character  of  the  work  performed  by  the 

2  Speaking  of  the  visit  of  the  American  fleet  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean last  fall,  the  Eclair eur  de  Nice  (France)  said,  on  November 
30,  1913: 

"Now  that  the  fine  American  naval  division  is  leaving  us,  we 
should  like  to  place  on  record  our  admiration  for  the  remarkably 
good  behavior  of  the  crews,  not  only  aboard  their  ships,  where 
the  discipline  is  strict,  but  ashore.  Altogether  they  behaved  like 
real  gentlemen.  Their  bearing  was  irreproachable;  their  manners 
showed  good  education  and  frequently  rose  above  mere  banal 
politeness.  They  taught  us  French,  who  pay  no  heed  to  the 
Marseillaise,  a  lesson  when  they  stood  rigidly  at  attention  during 
the  rendition  of  'The  Star  Spangled  Banner.' 

"Secretary  Daniels,  when  he  ordered  the  cruise,  did  more  than 
he  foresaw.  He  intended  to  educate  the  crews,  but  he  also 
educated  us  by  showing  us  such  splendid  ships  and  men." 

s  See  Appendix  I. 


16  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

vessels  of  the  Asiatic  and  Pacific  Fleets  and  their 
consorts  on  detached  and  special  service  is,  there- 
fore, essentially  different  from  that  of  the  battle- 
fleet.  Mostly  small  and  light  vessels,  they  have 
always  been  a  heterogeneous  lot,  acting  singly 
and  with  little  opportunity  of  being  often  together 
for  drill.  The  outlying  parts  of  the  world  are 
their  cruising  grounds;  the  services  they  are 
called  upon  to  perform  are  as  varied  as  the 
peoples  of  the  Seven  Seas. 

To  follow  the  wanderings  of  each  of  these 
"foreign  cruisers"  would  be  to  open  up  pages 
of  naval  life  that,  unfortunately,  are  often  known 
only  to  the  participants  themselves.  The  very 
romance  of  the  sea  would  lie  disclosed.  But  such 
travels  would  be  a  digression  from  the  subject 
of  "The  Fleet  at  Sea."  It  is  the  Atlantic  Fleet 
in  which  the  citizen  is  especially  interested;  it  is 
the  work  of  its  twenty  thousand  men  he  would 
come  to  know,  because  it  is  the  work  of  our  drill 
fleet,  our  battle-fleet. 

The  drawing  up  of  an  annual  schedule,  such 
as  has  been  mentioned,  involves  much  thought 
and  care,  since  the  amount  of  time  allotted  to  each 
of  the  forms  of  work  depends  upon  many  factors, 
each  having  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  final  result. 
Yet  this  variety  of  activity  is  such  that  it  makes 
for  the  improvement  of  the  service  in  its  readi- 
ness to  meet  exacting  conditions  and  to  suffer 


THE  FLEET  AT  SEA  17 

no  surprise  or  shock  or  deterioration  when 
confronted  with  a  really  serious  emergency. 
In  this  nothing  has  been  of  more  material  assist- 
ance than  the  very  definite,  yet  different,  localities 
which  the  battle-fleet  has  had  at  its  disposal  as 
operating  bases  for  the  two  main  periods  of  its 
year's  work.  During  the  winter,  Guantanamo 
Bay  has  come  to  be  recognized  as  the  ideal 
rendezvous  for  the  work  of  the  "busy  season, " 
while  in  the  warm  summer  months,  Narragansett 
Bay  has  been  preferred  as  fulfilling  the  require- 
ments of  an  operating  base  better  than  any 
other  site  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  In  the 
interval  between  these  two  periods  of  exercises, 
manoeuvres  and  fleet  training,  the  work  of  the 
several  separate  divisions  is  scheduled,  target- 
practice  is  held,  and  the  home  yards  are  visited 
for  the  purpose  of  docking  the  ships  and  of 
granting  liberty  and  leave  to  both  officers  and 
men.  It  is  at  these  times,  in  the  spring  and  fall, 
that  our  great  central  military  base  at  Hampton 
Eoads  is  visited  by  the  vessels  of  the  fleet,  and 
the  last  touches  put  on  the  past  month's 
work  just  previous  to  target-practice,  which,  in 
the  opinion  of  all,  is  the  "grand  finale,"  the 
"greatest  of  all  the  games"  the  navy  plays. 

It  is  New  Year's  Day.  The  assembled  fleet  has 
been  at  anchor  at  the  appointed  rendezvous 
during  the  past  fortnight ;  every  man  has  received 


18  OUB  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

a  week's  leave  to  spend  the  Christmas  holidays 
with  his  family  and  friends.  All  liberty-men  have 
returned  on  board.  A  signal  is  flying  on  the 
flagship.  Steam  is  up  on  every  vessel,  boats 
hoisted  in,  and  gangways  shipped.  On  the  fore- 
castle, the  boatswains  are  supervising  the  work 
of  the  forward  divisions  with  the  anchor  gear; 
the  leadsmen  are  in  the  chains; — the  engines 
begin  to  throb.  Then  with  the  flagship  of  the 
commander-in-chief  leading  the  way,  the  fleet 
steams  out  into  the  channel,  the  battleships  so 
alike,  to  the  landsman's  eye,  as  to  defy  identi- 
fication. It  is  an  impressive  manoeuvre  in  the 
crowded  harbor  waters — awe-inspiring  even  to 
the  oldest  tug-boat  captain  as  the  Dreadnoughts 
sweep  by,  one  by  one,  at  the  regulation  five 
hundred  yards  interval.4  Thus  the  vessels  pass 
out  to  sea;  their  prows  are  turned  to  the  south- 
ward. A  last  glance  at  the  hospitable  shores  and 
work  begins  again. 

While  the  seventeen  floating  fortresses — four 
divisions  of  four  ships  each  and  the  flagship  of 
the  commander-in-chief — keep  close  together, 
steaming  in  a  single  column  over  five  miles 
in  length,  the  smaller  vessels  and  torpedo  craft 
are  "all  over  the  shop,"  as  they  familiarly  put 
it,  getting  their  scouting  abilities  into  trim. 

4  This  is  the  distance  from  foremast  to  foremast ;  the  distance 
of  open  water  between  ships,  then,  narrows  down  to  250  yards. 


H 

ffi 


THE  FLEET  AT  SEA  19 

Weather  ?  The  true  sailor  does  not  bother  about 
the  weather.  Quite  a  sea  may  come  up,  but  the 
battleships  take  no  heed  of  it;  occasionally  they 
may  indulge  in  a  lurch,  an  unrhythmic  pitch,  but 
their  motion,  as  a  rule,  is  so  small  that  no  one 
thinks  of  securing  anything  below  decks.  Sud- 
denly a  string  of  bunting  runs  up  the  flagship's 
mainmast.  A  quick  command  from  the  officer-of- 
the-deck,  the  hoarse  summons  of  the  boatswain's 
mates,  and  all  seems  "confusion."  Confusion  it 
may  seem  to  the  casual  observer,  but  to  the 
trained  seaman  it  is  an  orderly  rush,  in  which 
each  man  on  board  is  doing  exactly  what  is 
expected  of  him  without  getting  in  anyone  else's 
way.  Every  detail  called  for  by  the  "station 
bills ' '  is  being  scrupulously  attended  to,  and  these 
duties  for  the  time  being  demand  each  man's 
attention,  yet  without  needless  complication 
through  having  to  think  of  another  man's  work. 
In  and  out  the  fleet  is  twisted,  doubling  this  way 
and  that,  first  stringing  the  ships  out  in  one  long 
column,  one  after  the  other,  then  forming  them 
up  in  line  abreast  of  each  other — all  at  the  will 
and  command  of  the  admiral  of  the  fleet,  its  brain 
and  master. 

The  work  is  hard,  exacting  at  times;  but  the 
interest  of  all  is  so  unflagging  that  the  greatest 
benefit  is  derived  from  every  evolution.  And  no 
little  factor  as  a  begetter  of  efficiency  is  the  spirit 


20  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

of  competition  which  has  been  aroused  not  only 
between  the  several  divisions  and  individual 
ships,  but  even  among  their  officers  and  men. 
Its  benefits  have  been  extended  in  every  possible 
direction,  with  such  results  that  it  has  proved 
the  most  powerful  influence  toward  the  attain- 
ment of  the  desired  end.  Evidence  of  this  has 
already  been  shown  in  the  steadily  increasing 
tendency  to  make  the  ships  self -sustaining,5  and 
in  the  excellent  record  they  have  made  in  the 
preservation  of  their  materiel  and  economy  in 
its  operation.  These  facts,  no  less  than  the 
rarity  of  serious  accidents,  have  demonstrated 
beyond  a  doubt  their  high  state  of  efficiency. 

It  is  impossible,  of  course,  in  times  of  peace 
to  reproduce  all  the  conditions  of  battle;  only  a 
suggestion  of  the  "real  thing"  can  be  had.  But, 

8  The  emergency  repairs  made  on  the  destroyer  Burrows  in 
1913  at  Guantanamo  Bay,  where  there  are  no  shops  or  repair 
depots,  are  sufficient  evidence  of  what  the  American  bluejacket 
can  do  with  scant  facilities  and  few  tools  at  hand.  In  a  collision 
twenty -five  miles  off  shore  that  vessel's  bow  was  twisted  and 
badly  crushed.  Yet  in  twenty-one  working  hours  the  bow  had 
been  entirely  cut  off  and  rebuilt  by  her  crew,  assisted  by  details 
from  the  Dixie  and  the  Monaghan,  and  the  vessel  was  reported 
ready  to  take  her  place  in  the  fleet  and  run  at  any  speed.  And 
only  last  fall,  our  battle  fleet  gave  a  practical  demonstration  of 
self-dependence,  such  as  the  country  had  not  witnessed  in  years, 
when  the  vessels  making  the  cruise  to  the  Mediterranean  steamed 
nine  thousand  miles  without  purchasing  an  ounce  of  coal  or 
provisions.  The  fleet's  own  colliers  and  supply  ships  furnished 
everything  needed  during  that  seven  weeks'  absence  from  home, 
and  some  of  the  refrigerating  ships  even  brought  back  part  of 
the  cargoes  with  which  they  had  started. 


THE  FLEET  AT  SEA  21 

on  the  other  hand,  it  cannot  be  said  that  nothing 
is  being  done  to  overcome  this  difficulty.  Imme- 
diately after  the  assembling  of  the  fleet  at  any 
of  its  bases,  systematic  efforts  are  made  to 
familiarize  the  units  with  battle  tactics.  Certain 
days  of  the  week  are  set  aside  for  fleet  exercises — 
" battle  plan,"  they  call  it — on  each  of  these 
mornings  at  daylight  the  ships  get  under  way, 
and,  after  steaming  to  sea  beyond  the  three-mile 
limit,  spend  the  day  mano3uvring.  Sometimes 
two  squadrons  of  equal  force  are  ordered  out  to 
solve  problems  of  "search";  umpires  on  each 
vessel  keep  a  careful  record  of  all  movements; 
and,  in  the  case  of  an  engagement,  decide  the 
fate  of  the  individual  units.  It  is  excellent 
practice  for  the  officers.  They  know  the  rules 
and  what  these  call  for,  but  the  initiative  is  all 
their  own,  and  theirs  the  opportunity  of  handling 
squadrons  as  in  actual  battle.  Imagine  what 
would  happen  were  these  rehearsals  not  held. 
The  handling  of  the  battleship  from  within  the 
conning-tower  is  no  child's  play.  The  captain's 
sole  view  of  both  friend  and  foe  is  through  the 
tiny  slits  in  the  armor  of  his  steel-walled  conning- 
tower;  his  range  of  vision  extends  only  from 
ahead  to  a  little  abaft  the  beam;  he  cannot  read 
the  signals  himself,  for  he  cannot  use  his  glasses 
with  any  degree  of  certainty.  The  commanding 
officer's  location  is  a  new  one.  But  the  battle 


22  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

of  Santiago  taught  the  need  of  practice,  and  well 
has  that  lesson  been  learned.  In  battle,  quickness 
of  action  and  precision  are  of  prime  importance, 
and  by  rehearsals  these  qualifications  of  the 
"brain"  of  the  ship  and  of  the  "brain"  of  the 
fleet  are  developed  and  trained. 

Were  it  possible  in  war  to  confine  all  hostilities 
to  the  daytime  only,  the  navy's  problem  of  prepa- 
ration would  be  decidedly  simplified.  But  the 
age  when  the  enemy  formally  announced  his 
intention  of  attacking  is  long  past,  and  we  are 
confronted  with  the  possibility  of  night  attacks 
and  surprises  even  in  the  most  unexpected  places. 
For  this  reason  much  of  the  fleet's  work  has  to 
be  devoted  to  training  the  personnel  for  such 
a  contingency.  And  here  is  where  some  of 
the  most  spectacular  and  interesting  work  of  the 
navy  comes  in. 

It  is  a  clear,  still  night;  only  the  guiding  stars 
in  the  heavens  are  shining;  not  another  glimmer 
is  visible.  The  fleet  is  steaming  in  single  column, 
with  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  clear 
water  between  the  ships.  All  dead-lights  are 
screwed  down  over  the  port-holes;  not  a  ray  of 
light  shows  about  them;  not  even  the  running 
lights  are  uncovered.  The  effect  is  awesome. 
The  ship  directly  ahead  is  swallowed  up  in  the 
immense  darkness  of  the  sea  and  sky.  Your  eyes 
try  to  pierce  the  inky  blackness  for  an  occasional 


THE  FLEET  AT  SEA  23 

glimpse  of  the  tiny  shaded  light  at  her  stern  and 
the  swirl  made  by  her  screws  or  the  straight 
tracery  of  her  skeleton  masts  as  they  cross  the 
stars.  Astern,  only  a  couple  of  cable-lengths  off, 
is  another  ship  forcing  her  huge  mass  after  you, 
her  ram  cleaving  its  way  through  the  water 
unrelentingly.  Yet  so  perfect  has  the  training 
been,  so  well  drilled  is  the  fleet,  that  the  interval 
between  the  ships  never  varies,  and  on  they  speed, 
as  if  tied  together.  Suddenly  the  ardois  signal- 
lamps  on  the  flagship  begin  to  wink;  flashes  of 
red  and  white  lights  pass  aloft  from  ship  to  ship. 
A  momentary  pause.  Then  a  great  beam  of 
light  shoots  across  the  admiral's  bow.  Instantly 
ninety-six  other  beams  dart  into  the  air,  sweeping 
the  horizon  and  illuminating  each  crest  of  wave. 
It  is  a  searchlight  drill,  designed  to  teach  the 
crews  the  use  of  one  of  the  battleship's  greatest 
protections  against  a  torpedo-boat's  night  attack. 
"Only  a  patch  compared  to  the  real  thing" — a 
mere  taste. 

So  the  "preparation"  goes  on.  Every  phase 
of  the  battle  exercise  is  studied,  rehearsed,  and 
perfected.  It  is  the  only  way  of  becoming 
familiar  with  the  conditions  that  will  exist  on 
the  day  of  battle."  And  be  it  said  to  the  credit 

« How  history  repeats  itself  is  once  more  brought  out  in  the 
recently  published  work  on  the  Eusso- Japanese  War,  The  "Novik" 
and  the  part  she  played  in  the  Eusso- Japanese  War,  1904,  by 


24  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

of  the  service  that  the  energy  and  enthusiasm 
of  its  officers  have  been  a  great  factor  in  bringing 
out  this  realism  so  successfully.  The  fleet  has 
never  been  in  as  good  condition  as  it  is  today. 
It  is  prepared.  And  is  not  an  additional  reason 
for  this  to  be  found  in  the  obedience,  contentment, 
and  intelligence  of  its  enlisted  force? 

Lieutenant  A.  P.  Steer,  I.  E.  N.,  in  which  the  author  thus  com- 
ments on  the  importance  of  maintaining  a  "fleet  in  being": 
"Although  it  went  against  the  grain,  we  could  not  help  admiring 
the  evolutions  of  the  Japanese  squadron  outside  Port  Arthur: 
never  the  least  hesitation,  never  a  mistake.  Compared  with  this, 
what  must  have  been  Admiral  Makaroff  'a  feelings  when  he  wanted 
us  to  take  up  our  fleet  formation  I  The  signal  was  hardly  down 
before  things  were  at  sixes  and  sevens,  and  two  battleships,  which 
had  not  understood  what  was  required  of  them,  promptly  rammed 
one  another.  And  yet  one  could  not  in  reason  expect  these  cap- 
tains to  know  that  which  no  one  had  ever  taught  them.  When 
it  is  a  case  of  handling  a  battleship  in  a  squadron,  while  per- 
forming evolutions,  mere  theoretical  knowledge  is  of  no  use,  even 
in  the  most  simple  cases.  What  is  required  is  constant  practice 
at  sea,  and  that  is  precisely  what  we  all  lacked.  The  admiral 
had  first  thought  of  providing  us  with  this,  but  he  seemed  to 
have  thought  better  of  it,  for  fear  that  his  precious  battleships 
might  sink  one  another." 


THE  NAVAL  STATION  AT  GUANTANAMO 

BAY 

The  interests  of  nations  in  the  sea  are  almost 
wholly  interests  of  trade  and  commerce,  and  the 
importance  of  parts  of  the  earth's  surface  vary 
from  time  to  time,  therefore,  as  the  means  of 
communication  are  developed  or  extended.  For 
centuries,  the  Mediterranean  Sea  was  the  center 
around  which  gathered  the  influences  of  the 
civilized  nations  of  the  world ;  for  ages  it  was  the 
one  route  by  which  the  West  and  the  East  main- 
tained commercial  relations.  With  the  discovery 
of  the  passage  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  a  fresh 
incentive  was  offered  to  the  venturesome  navi- 
gators of  Europe,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
discovery  of  a  new  world  opened  up  to  them  a 
new  sphere  of  ambition.  The  longed-for  East, 
however,  was  not  yet  within  reach;  a  narrow 
strip  of  land  still  separated  the  discoverer  from 
the  "South  Sea." 

With  the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal,  the 
vision,  dimly  seen  by  Columbus  through  the 
scanty  and  inaccurate  knowledge  of  his  age,  has 
come  true.  The  continent  that  so  stubbornly 
barred  him  from  the  distant  Eastern  Ocean  has 
at  last  been  pierced.  A  trade  route  through  the 


26  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

Caribbean  to  the  Pacific  has  at  last  been  opened, 
and  a  passage  has  been  completed  at  which  all 
the  highways  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Oceans  will  hereafter  focus  and  intersect. 

It  is  most  fortunate  for  the  United  States  that 
she  is  in  possession  of  an  advanced  base  in  the 
waters  controlling  the  approach  to  this  great 
highway;  for  among  the  great  powers  of  the 
world,  no  other  nation  is  so  vitally  interested  in 
its  protection.  For  years,  the  most  advanced 
station  that  the  United  States  had  fully  developed 
was  Key  West.  Its  value  to  the  squadrons 
operating  in  Cuban  waters  during  the  Spanish- 
American  War  cannot  be  overestimated.  But  it 
was  not  ideal ;  it  was  not  advanced  enough.  The 
opportunity  of  bettering  this  position,  however, 
came  soon.  One  result  of  the  hostilities  with 
Spain  was  the  gaining  of  a  naval  station  still 
nearer  to  that  greatest  strategic  center  of  the 
Caribbean — the  Canal.  Culebra  became  ours  by 
political  possession,  while  the  acquisition  of 
Guantanamo  Bay  was  made  possible  by  the 
agreement  entered  into  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Republic  of  Cuba,  in  the  summer 
and  fall  of  1903,  whereby  that  spacious  harbor 
with  its  surrounding  lands  was  ceded  to  our 
government  "for  coaling  or  naval  stations.'* 

A  glance  at  the  chart  will  illustrate  the  supe- 
riority of  those  newly  acquired  bases  over  any 


5 

o 
ti 

O 


O 
C/2 


STATION  AT  GUANTANAMO  BAY  27 

which  the  United  States  had  heretofore  possessed 
in  those  waters.  In  situation  and  in  natural 
elements  of  offensive  and  defensive  strength, 
Guantanamo  Bay  and  Culebra  far  surpass  any 
of  our  Gulf  ports.  As  strategic  points  for  the 
effective  defense  of  our  own  Atlantic  and  Gulf 
coasts,  as  well  as  of  the  South  Atlantic  and  the 
Caribbean,  none  can  compare  with  them.  They 
virtually  command  the  approach  of  a  hostile  fleet 
through  the  Yucatan,  Windward,  and  Mona  Pas- 
sages, and  as  bases  for  operations  present 
advantages  not  found  elsewhere.  In  short, 
Guantanamo  Bay  and  Culebra  can  become  to 
the  United  States  what  Gibraltar  and  Malta  are 
to  Great  Britain  in  the  Mediterranean  and  at 
Suez ;  with  the  further  advantage  to  us  that  they 
are  nearer  to  our  home  ports  than  those  positions 
are  to  Great  Britain. 

Up  to  the  present  time,  however,  we  have  not 
been  obliged  to  prove  in  practice  what  in  theory 
we  have  already  determined  to  our  own  satis- 
faction. Years  of  peace  have  enabled  us  to  make 
use  of  our  new  naval  stations  for  a  different 
purpose.  It  is  the  great  importance  of  Guanta- 
namo Bay  in  this  latter  respect  that  we  shall  now 
consider. 

Guantanamo  Bay  is  a  splendid  sheet  of  water. 
Miles  long  and  miles  wide,  it  furnishes  a  commo- 
dious harbor,  capable  of  accommodating  at 


28  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

anchor  a  fleet  of  thirty-five  battleships,  with 
sixteen  more  in  the  outer  harbor,  if  necessary. 
For  beautiful  scenery  it  is  unsurpassed.  Impos- 
ing bluish  mountains  in  the  background  on  all 
sides,  smaller  promontories  in  the  middle  ground, 
and  low  shores  in  the  foreground,  surround  the 
large  land-locked  bay.  The  coloring  is  gorgeous 
under  the  clear,  tropical  sky;  the  water,  rich 
ultramarine  blue,  greenish-yellow,  bright  green, 
or  even  dull  brown.  What  more  ideal  setting 
could  be  imagined!  Yet  with  all  its  beauties,  it 
has  the  shortcomings  usual  to  the  tropics.  The 
shores  are  bleak  and  desolate;  not  a  road  (except 
one  through  the  naval  station)  pierces  the  wild 
undergrowth  of  tall  grass  and  cactus;  not  a 
habitation  is  to  be  seen  for  miles;  the  nearest 
settlement  is  Caimanera — at  the  head  of  the 
bay,  outside  the  reservation — with  its  lazy,  dirty, 
and  worthless  crowd  of  mulattoes,  while  the  city 
of  Guantanamo,  about  seventeen  miles  inland, 
is  practically  inaccessible,  owing  to  the  poor 
railroad  communication. 

Around  the  outer  bay  is  scattered  the  naval 
station,  comprising  the  station-ship,  a  shore  office 
for  the  commandant,  a  general  store,  a  coaling 
station,  and  a  few  frame  structures  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  officers  and  men  on  duty 
there.  A  redeeming  feature  of  the  place  is  the 
officers'  club  and  the  enlisted  men's  building,  with 


STATION  AT  GUANTANAMO  BAY  29 

their  large  verandas,  where  the  cool  trade  winds 
may  be  enjoyed  to  advantage.  Nor  is  that  all. 
Extensive  construction  work  has  been  actively 
prosecuted  during  the  past  few  years  to  carry  out 
the  comprehensive  scheme  planned  by  the  Navy 
Department  to  make  Gruantanamo  Bay  what  it 
should  be  in  order  to  render  the  best  service  to 
the  fleet.  A  station  wharf,  a  fuel-oil  wharf,  a 
number  of  oil  tanks  capable  of  furnishing  an 
adequate  supply  of  fuel  for  the  ships,  and  a  pipe 
line  from  the  tanks  to  the  wharf  have  been  con- 
structed. A  power-plant  is  to  be  erected,  where 
emergency  repairs  may  be  made,  although  such 
repairs  will  necessarily  be  limited  to  those  that 
can  be  made  on  a  ship  not  in  dock,  since  it  has 
been  found  impossible  to  complete  the  dry-dock 
originally  planned.  And  last,  but  not  least,  a 
wireless  station,  with  two  250-foot  self-supporting 
steel  towers,  is,  before  long,  to  be  completed. 

One  look  at  the  reservation  as  originally  laid 
out,  however,  clearly  reveals  the  distressing  fact 
that  in  the  beginning  we  did  not  acquire  land 
enough.  The  station  is  too  small  for  the  purposes 
intended.  To  the  eastward  and  well  within  the 
range  of  a  six-inch  gun  rises  a  sharp  promontory, 
which  was  generally  referred  to  as  "203  Metre 
Hill"  because  of  its  commanding  position.  An 
enemy  could  without  much  difficulty,  land  his 
guns  at  the  base  of  the  mountain,  and  in  a  short 


30  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

time  mount  them  in  a  position  from  which  every- 
thing of  value  about  the  bay  could  be  destroyed. 

That  the  Navy  Department  might  not  be  kept 
in  ignorance  of  a  situation  so  alarming,  the 
officer  then  commanding  on  the  station,  the  late 
Bear  Admiral  Eobley  D.  Evans,  appointed  a 
board  of  able  officers  to  report  on  a  solution  of 
the  problem.  This  board  made  an  exhaustive 
report,  after  having  covered  the  ground,  climbed 
the  mountains,  and  surveyed  the  possible  sources 
of  water  supply — for  be  it  known  that  the  water 
supply  of  our  naval  station  is  wholly  inadequate, 
although  there  is  a  fine  river  running  through 
the  country  but  a  short  distance  off;  every  drop 
of  fresh  water  for  the  station  has  to  be  brought 
from  a  point  ten  or  twelve  miles  inland  in  water 
cars,  after  which  it  has  to  be  pumped  into  water- 
boats,  which  are  towed  six  miles  before  it  can 
be  distributed  for  consumption.  The  unanimous 
recommendation  of  the  board  was  that  the  boun- 
daries of  the  concession  be  extended  to  include 
the  high  point  necessary  to  its  proper  defense 
in  time  of  war. 

"This  report  was  duly  forwarded,"  wrote 
Bear  Admiral  Evans,  "and  that  was  the  last  we 
ever  heard  of  it.  The  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  came  down  later,  looked  the  ground  over, 
and  approved  of  what  had  been  done.  Later  still, 
a  committee  of  senators  came.  After  spending 


STATION  AT  GUANTANAMO  BAY  31 

one  hour  in  the  bay,  they  sailed  for  Jamaica, 
deciding  that  no  more  money  should  be  spent  on 
Guantanamo,  and  so  the  matter  stands  to-day. 
We  cannot  do  the  work  without  money,  and 
Congress  will  not  appropriate  the  money." 

Since  those  words  were  penned,  however,  some- 
thing has  been  done.  The  reservation  is  to  be 
enlarged  sufficiently  to  meet  all  requirements, 
and  the  prospect  of  its  proper  development  in 
the  future  will  be  assured  if  only  our  Congress- 
men and  their  constituents  can  be  made  to  realize 
that  the  navy  exists  for  the  nation  and  not  for 
the  sole  benefit  of  the  various  localities  where 
our  all  too  numerous  home  navy  yards  now 
happen  to  be  situated. 

At  present  it  can  be  truthfully  said  that  Guan- 
tanamo Bay  is  of  vast  importance  to  the  United 
States  as  a  training  station — a  position  from 
which,  as  a  safe  anchorage,  the  battle-fleet  may 
mano3uvre  and  conduct  its  exercises  with  the 
greatest  possible  advantage.  Owing  to  its  climate 
during  the  winter  months,  it  is  by  far  the  best 
place  available.  It  is  even  more ;  it  is  better  than 
any  other  place  the  navy  could  select,  were  it 
given  a  choice  in  the  matter. 

The  large  bay  offers  opportunities  to  the  real 
sailor  that  none  in  the  fleet  can  overlook  or  fail 
to  take  advantage  of.  Every  day  thousands  of 
bluejackets  may  be  seen  crowding  the  gun-walks 


32  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

and  boat-booms,  in  order  to  be  the  "first  in" 
when  swimming  call  is  sounded  before  breakfast 
and  again  before  supper.  The  desire  of  every 
man  on  board  is  sooner  or  later  to  accomplish 
the  feat  of  swimming  "round  the  ship."  Those 
who  cannot  keep  afloat  are  assigned  competent 
instructors,  and  every  afternoon  pupils  and 
masters  are  sent  to  the  sandy  shores  of  Hicacal 
Beach,  within  the  waters  of  the  bay,  where  the 
regular  hour-a-day  is  well  spent  and  the  lesson 
thoroughly  learned. 

When  the  men  have  mastered  the  art  of  looking 
after  themselves  while  in  the  water,  practice  is 
given  them  in  the  handling  of  small  boats.  Sail- 
ing launches,  whale-boats,  cutters,  and  dories  are 
time  and  again  ordered  away  under  oars  and 
under  sail,  and  there  are  moments  when  one  is 
reminded  more  of  the  regatta  days  at  Marble- 
head  than  of  the  warlike  training  that  calls  the 
fleet  to  the  Caribbean. 

Nor  are  these  the  only  exercises  possible  within 
these  sheltered  waters.  Every  ship  in  turn  holds 
such  important  drills  as  abandon-ship  drill  and 
collision  drill.  Various  seamanship  feats  are 
executed,  as  in  the  case  of  an  anchor  drill,  when 
the  heavy  "mud-hooks"  are  carried  out  in  one 
of  the  sailing  launches  and  again  hoisted  in — a 
difficult  task  and  one  calling  for  expert  knowl- 
edge. In  the  mean  time,  the  ships '  landing  forces 


STATION  AT  GUANTANAMO  BAY  33 

have  rehearsed  the  various  stages  in  the  dis- 
embarking of  large  armed  detachments,  and  their 
flotillas  have  gained  practice  in  evolutions  held 
under  actual  service  conditions.  At  the  same 
time,  the  torpedo  divisions  may  be  seen  inshore 
planting  their  mine  fields  and  testing  their 
torpedoes.  Thus  the  work  goes  on ;  every  oppor- 
tunity offered  by  the  sheltered  waters  of  that 
wonderful  bay  is  fully  taken  advantage  of. 

While  these  things  have  been  going  on  afloat, 
on  shore  over  a  thousand  bluejackets  and  marines 
have  been  living  under  tents  on  Deer  Point,  a 
high  bluff  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  bay.  One 
object  in  thus  going  into  camp  is  to  teach  the 
men  the  gentle  art  of  " soldiering"  and  to  enable 
them  to  use  the  small-arms  target  range  to  its 
utmost  capacity ;  for  Guantanamo  Bay  boasts  the 
finest  small-arms  range  in  the  world.  True,  the 
natural  features  of  the  country  left  nothing  to 
be  desired ;  but  the  Bureau  of  Ordnance,  to  which 
fell  the  task  of  perfecting  what  already  existed, 
nevertheless  deserves  great  credit  for  its  inde- 
fatigable exertions  in  completing  the  work.  Over 
two  hundred  targets,  for  all  ranges  from  fifteen 
to  one  thousand  yards,  for  pistol,  rifle,  and  field- 
gun  practice,  for  slow,  rapid,  and  skirmish  firing, 
have  been  erected  under  the  low-lying  Cuzco 
Hills  that  screen  the  reservation  from  the  sea  to 
the  eastward. 


34  OUK  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

Day  in  and  day  out,  from  sunrise  to  sunset, 
hundreds  of  men  crowd  the  firing  points.  The 
noise  is  incessant,  the  reports  of  the  Springfields 
following  each  other  so  rapidly  that  one  might 
almost  imagine  a  battle  in  progress.  And  then, 
from  over  the  hills,  not  half  a  mile  away,  comes 
the  boom  of  the  artillery ;  while  on  the  other  flank 
the  rapid  fire  of  the  skirmishers  may  be  heard 
as  they  ' '  do  their  runs. ' '  More  than  six  thousand 
men  fire  the  prescribed  course  during  the  months 
that  the  fleet  is  in  Guantanamo  Bay.  As  many  as 
three-fourths  often  are  qualified  as  marksmen, 
sharp-shooters,  and  experts.  Every  man  is  keyed 
up  to  the  highest  pitch,  and  every  man  is  there 
to  win.  The  competition  is  not  only  between 
individuals,  but  between  divisions,  ships,  and 
squadrons.  Rewards  and  " prize  money"  also 
are  at  stake. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  navy  at  Guantanamo 
Bay  enjoys  the  use  of  the  finest  small-arms  target 
range  in  the  world,  and  it  may  be  justly  said  that 
the  use  of  this  range  enables  the  men  of  the 
service  to  outshoot  all  competitors.  It  is  here 
that  they  receive  the  training  which  places  them 
in  an  enviable  position  among  the  crack  shots  of 
the  world.  For  to  their  credit  be  it  remembered 
that  on  the  cruises  of  the  Atlantic  Fleet  the  blue- 
jackets won  from  the  best  teams  in  Australia, 
Japan,  and  Europe. 


STATION  AT  GUANTANAMO  BAY  35 

It  is  obvious,  then,  that  as  a  training  station 
Guantanamo  Bay  is  indispensable  to  the  navy  in 
time  of  peace.  It  furnishes  what  no  single  one 
of  our  home  ports  affords — a  proper  base  and 
sheltered  harbor,  where  the  Atlantic  Fleet,  the 
battle-fleet,  may  uninterruptedly  carry  out  its 
program  of  manoeuvres,  exercises,  and  drills 
during  a  season  of  the  year  when  the  rigorous 
climate  on  our  Atlantic  seaboard  would  seriously 
hinder  any  such  work.  It  is  the  one  place  where 
the  real  work  of  the  navy  can  be  and  is  carried 
on.  But  it  is  also,  unfortunately,  so  located  that 
the  people  at  home  cannot  form  a  correct  idea 
of  its  importance,  because  this  work  has  to  be 
carried  on  outside  their  own  sphere  of  observa- 
tion. The  navy  has,  by  experience,  learned  to 
appreciate  the  value  of  Guantanamo  Bay;  let  us 
hope  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the 
people  also  will  be  able  to  realize  its  true  relation 
to  the  service  and  to  the  nation. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SHIP 

To  the  soldier,  the  naval  organization  on  ship- 
board must  at  times  seem  a  curious  combination 
of  the  military,  the  nautical,  and  the  mechanical. 
The  profession  of  arms  has,  in  the  course  of 
centuries,  been  blended  with  the  skill  of  the 
seaman  and  the  craft  of  the  artificer,  until  the 
mingling  of  the  three  has  resulted  in  an  institu- 
tion that,  for  thoroughness  and  efficiency,  is 
nothing  short  of  marvelous.  For,  like  almost 
everything  else  on  board  ship,  the  present  organi- 
zation is  the  result  of  an  evolution  from  the  days 
of  the  row-galley  and  the  sailing  frigate;  so 
much  so,  that,  as  Sir  Cyprian  Bridge  remarks,1 
"A  knowledge  of  naval  history  is  indispensable 
both  to  the  administrator  who  may  have  to  devise 
a  system  of  organization  and  discipline  and  to 
those  who  may  be  called  upon  to  work  the  system 
in  actual  belligerent  operations." 

From  the  day  that  the  White  Squadron  first 
sailed  the  seas,  the  United  States  Navy  has 
experienced  a  period  of  transition.  The  changes 
at  first  came  slowly  and  very  gradually.  Then 
came  the  War  with  Spain ;  and  one  result  of  that 

i  In  his  Art  of  Naval  Warfare,  p.  9. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SHIP  37 

successful  conflict  was  the  bringing  of  the  Ser- 
vice within  sight  of  a  final  solution  of  the  great 
problem  of  organization,  sooner,  much  sooner, 
than  would  otherwise  have  been  possible.  For, 
as  can  readily  be  understood,  there  exists  in  the 
navy  a  veneration  for  practices  conserved  by 
long  acceptance,  a  respect  for  old  customs,  that 
cannot  be  speedily  set  aside  by  any  novel  device. 
Such  deference  is  characteristic  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  and  is  a  feeling  that  is  planted  deep  in 
the  heart,  as  well  as  in  the  intelligence,  of  the 
American  bluejacket. 

But  tradition  sometimes  ceases  to  represent 
the  living  present.  It  may  become  an  adherence 
to  a  dead  past,  the  ideas  of  which  have  been  out- 
grown. Change  is  imperative.  An  advance  must 
be  made.  This  was  the  situation  in  which  the 
Service  found  itself  just  previous  to  the  15th  of 
February,  1898.  The  shock  of  battle  then  was 
the  entering  wedge  so  long  needed.  A  great 
departure  was  made  in  the  enactment  of  the 
Amalgamation  Law  of  1899,  whereby  the  old 
Engineer  Corps  of  the  Navy  was  transferred  to 
the  line.  It  was  a  radical  violation  of  naval 
tradition,  but  the  last  fifteen  years  have  demon- 
strated the  wisdom  of  such  an  unusual  measure, 
and  the  remarkable  gain  in  the  efficiency  of  our 
fleets  since  then  has  justified  the  innovation 
beyond  a  doubt. 


38  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

If  the  crew  of  a  man-of-war  had  but  one  thing 
to  do,  their  development  into  an  efficient  fighting 
strength  would  be  easy  of  accomplishment.  But 
they  have  not.  They  have  battle  by  day  and 
battle  by  night,  cruising  alone  and  in  company, 
besides  the  many  minor  duties  comprised  in 
cleaning  ship,  boat  drill,  coaling  and  fueling  ship, 
gymnastic  exercises,  and  mine-laying  drills,  in 
addition  to  the  soldier's  duty  of  the  manual  of 
arms  and  field-gun  exercises.  All  these,  and 
many  more  duties  they  have  to  perform.  Of 
course,  in  none  of  them  are  all  the  officers  and 
men  always  included,  nor  is  it  necessary  that  they 
should  be.  But  each  task  has,  and  must  have,  a 
"specialty  nucleus,"  with  its  supervisor  and 
staff ;  and  it  is  this  provision  of  the  naval  organi- 
zation, this  point  of  support  for  the  deck  hand, 
the  "general  worker"  who  has  to  turn  his  hand 
to  so  many  different  things,  that  has  been  such 
a  factor  in  welding  the  crews  into  their  present 
efficient  state.  Common-sense  principles  rule, 
and  their  application  is  found  in  the  station  bills 
that  form  the  vade  mecum  of  every  officer  afloat. 
Once  the  ship's  organization  has  been  adjusted, 
once  the  shaking-down  cruise  has  been  completed, 
every  man  of  the  thousand  on  board  knows  his 
duty  under  all  conceivable  contingencies,  and  the 
display  of  a  signal  from  the  flagship's  main  is 
all  that  is  needed  to  start  the  machinery  of 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SHIP  39 

that  well-regulated  organization  to  the  ordered, 
confusionless  end.2 

It  can  be  imagined  what,  under  these  circum- 
stances, the  responsibilities  of  the  head  of  such 
a  community  must  be.  The  "solitary  chieftain," 
he  has  been  styled.  And  appropriately  so,  for 
his  generous  quarters  on  board  are  entirely 
separate  from  those  of  the  other  officers.  He 
usually  messes  alone,  and  at  his  cabin  door  paces 
a  marine  sentry,  night  and  day  guarding  the 
entrance  to  the  sanctum  sanctorum,  lest  anyone 
should  enter  without  the  usual  formal  announce- 
ment. Upon  ' '  the  Old  Man, ' '  as  he  is  irreverently 
called,  falls  the  responsibility  for  everything — 
discipline,  safety  of  ship  and  men,  and  work  of 
every  kind.  He  has  the  general  superintendence 
over  the  affairs  on  board,  and  all  orders  of  a 
general  nature  are  supposed  to  emanate  from 
him.  Upon  all  professional  points  his  decision 
is  final.  He  is  the  guiding  spirit  of  that  giant 
instrument  of  modern  naval  warfare,  the  Dread- 
nought, the  one  whom  all  look  up  to  in  time  of 
stress  and  in  the  hour  of  battle. 

But  besides  being  the  naval  and  military  chief, 
the  captain  has  to  be  master  of  another  profes- 
sion, which  calls  for  a  knowledge  of  the  law  and 
of  human  nature  in  all  its  aspects.  For  not 
only  is  he  the  commanding  officer,  but  also  a 

a  See  Appendix  HE. 


40  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

lawyer,  a  kind  of  justice  of  the  peace.  "He  is 
a  Leviathan,'*  wrote  the  scurrilous  Ward8  in 
1708,  "or  rather  a  kind  of  Sea-God,  whom  the 
poor  tars  worship  as  the  Indians  do  the  Devil." 
In  those  "good  old  days"  he  had  power  over  his 
subjects  almost  to  the  life.  But  since  the  navy 
"went  to  the  dogs,"  the  day  that  flogging  was 
abolished,  the  discipline  of  the  Service  has  under- 
gone a  great  change.  The  men  are  well  cared  for, 
well  housed,  well  fed,  and  looked  after  in  ways 
never  thought  possible  in  the  old  times. 

The  principle  by  which  discipline  is  maintained 
is  no  longer  to  punish  as  severely  as  possible, 
but  to  offer  the  men  every  inducement  to  do  right, 
so  that  they  cannot  fail  to  see  the  advantages  to 
be  gained  by  good  behavior.  Every  morning  at 
nine  the  captain  holds  his  court  at  the  foot  of  the 
mainmast.  He  is  court,  judge,  and  jury,  and  in 
this  treble  capacity  he  examines  the  reports  of 
the  transgressors.  "What  have  you  to  say?" 
he  asks.  The  offender  always  has  an  excuse,  but 
unless  it  bears  evidence  of  acceptability,  punish- 
ment, swift  and  sure,  follows  the  offense,  and  the 
spirit,  as  well  as  the  letter,  of  the  Navy  Regula- 
tions is  effectively  carried  out.  It  is  a  simple 

s  In  his  book,  The  wooden  world  dissected,  in  the  characters 
of  a  ship  of  war,  a  sea-captain,  a  sea-lieutenant,  a  sea-chaplain, 
the  master,  the  purser,  the  surgeon,  the  gunner,  the  carpenter, 
the  boatswain,  a  sea-cooTc,  a  midshipman,  a  captain's  steward,  a 
sailor,  etc.  By  a  Lover  of  the  Mathematieks.  London,  1708. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SHIP  41 

and  efficacious  manner  of  dispensing  justice. 
Nowhere  is  arbitrary  authority — which  the  sea 
compels,  aside  altogether  from  the  question  of 
military  discipline — exercised  with  greater  intel- 
ligence and  humanity,  or  with  more  consideration 
for  the  rights  of  the  individual  man,  than  in  the 
Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  the  cases  are  few 
indeed  in  which  the  offender  may  rightfully  think 
himself  unjustly  dealt  with. 

Next  in  rank  to  the  captain  is  the  Executive 
Officer,  "a  sort  of  captain's  proxy,"  says  Mase- 
field,  "who  did  all  the  work,  in  order  that  the 
captain  might  have  the  glory."  And  broad 
indeed  must  be  his  shoulders  and  serene  his 
temper.  For  as  the  personal  representative  of 
the  captain  in  maintaining  the  military  and 
general  efficiency  of  the  ship,  he  has  the  direction 
of  everything  on  board.  To  him  every  question 
is  first  referred.  All  the  heads  of  departments 
and  all  other  officers,  and  everyone  of  the  thou- 
sand men  on  board,  are  directly  under  his  orders. 
He  must  organize  and  drill  the  ship's  company, 
and  look  after  the  daily  routine  and  general 
work.  He  must  care  for  the  ship,  inside  and  out. 
His  office  hours  are  from  early  morning  until 
late  at  night,  and  his  only  moments  of  leisure 
may  be  said  to  be  the  few  he  spends  at  the  head 
of  the  wardroom  table,  at  meal  times,  presiding 
as  social  arbiter. 


42  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

So  many,  in  fact,  are  the  Executive's  duties, 
that  a  few  years  ago  a  new  "personality" 
was  created  on  shipboard  in  the  quality  of 
First  Lieutenant,  upon  whom  devolved  the 
responsibilities  of  the  vessel's  "cleanliness,  good 
order,  efficiency,  and  neat  and  trim  appearance. ' ' 
Extreme  tidiness  is  a  characteristic  of  the 
American  man-of-war.  "A  place  for  everything, 
and  everything  in  its  place";  this  cardinal 
principle  must  the  "fust  luff"  continually  bear 
in  mind  as  he  makes  his  frequent  inspections 
of  the  countless  compartments,  double-bottoms, 
bulkheads,  valves,  pipes,  and  everything  above 
and  below  decks. 

Such  is  the  complexity  of  the  ship-of-war,  and 
so  great  the  need  of  "specialty"  supervisors, 
that,  even  in  the  days  of  old,  there  existed 
positions  of  responsibility  other  than  those  filled 
by  the  officers  thus  far  described.  For,  since  the 
ship  is  a  "home"  in  which  dwell  and  labor  the 
thousand  men  who  man  her,  a  "home"  which 
must,  at  times,  move  from  one  end  of  the  world 
to  the  other,  certain  elements  enter  into  her 
management  other  than  those  above  enumerated. 
Her  controlling  spirit  is  the  Captain ;  her  admin- 
istrator, the  Executive  Officer;  and  her  house- 
keeper, the  First  Lieutenant.  But,  in  addition 
to  these,  there  must  be  one  officer  continually  in 
charge  on  the  bridge,  the  Officer-of-the-Deck ; 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SHIP  43 

someone  to  look  after  the  health  and  comfort 
of  her  crew,  the  Medical  Officer ;  and  one  charged 
with  their  clothing,  feeding,  and  pay,  the  Pay 
Officer;  another  to  see  to  their  spiritual  wants, 
the  Chaplain;  and  an  officer  to  command  the 
Marine  Guard,  the  Captain  of  Marines.  Then 
the  ship  must  be  safely  guided  in  and  out  of 
harbor  and  across  the  waters  of  every  sea, 
which  duty  can  be  attended  to  by  but  one,  the 
Navigator;  her  motive  machinery  and  heating 
and  lighting  plants  come  under  the  direct  super- 
intendence of  the  Chief  Engineer,  who  rules  over 
a  sort  of  world  all  by  himself;  and  last,  but  far 
from  least  in  importance,  comes  the  Gunnery 
Officer,  upon  whom  rests  the  responsibility  of 
the  ship's  battery,  the  training  of  the  gun- 
crews in  the  work  of  target-practice,  and  their 
preparation  for  the  day  of  battle. 

These  heads  of  departments,  with  their 
immediate  subordinates,  the  division  and  watch 
officers — which  include  all  ranks  except  ensigns 
less  than  two  years  out  of  the  Naval  Academy — 
comprise,  socially,  what  is  known  as  the  Ward- 
room Mess.  Their  quarters  are  comfortable,  but 
by  no  means  luxurious,  and  here  they  assemble 
at  meal  hours  and  drop  in  for  a  moment  or  two 
when  off  duty.  The  Government  supplies  the 
officers  with  their  furniture,  china,  glassware,  and 
table  linen,  but  not,  as  is  generally  supposed,  with 


44  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

their  food.  Until  some  fifteen  years  ago,  Con- 
gress still  allowed  each  officer  and  man  the  sum 
of  thirty  cents  a  day  for  rations;  but  a  sudden 
spirit  of  economy  caused  them  to  cut  off  this 
allowance  from  the  commissioned  officers  above 
the  rank  of  midshipman,  and  that  Act  has  meant 
to  each  one  a  net  loss  of  about  $110  a  year,  which, 
while  never  sufficient  to  supply  all  the  food,  yet 
defrayed  no  small  share  of  the  expense.  How- 
ever, ingenuity  was  not  lacking  in  meeting  this 
new  condition  of  affairs,  and  a  system  was  soon 
devised  by  which  good,  simple  fare,  and  plenty 
of  it,  might  be  obtained  at  moderate  cost  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all.  It  is  only  when  the  ships  are 
sent  on  foreign  cruises  that  a  real  burden  is 
thrown  upon  the  officers ;  for,  unlike  other  coun- 
tries, our  Government  does  not  allow  a  penny 
of  " table  money"  for  official  entertainment.*  An 
English  admiral's  allowance  for  this  item  is 
usually  $6,000;  but,  in  the  United  States  Navy, 
such  expenses  come  out  of  the  officers'  own 
purses,  and  the  figure,  as  can  be  imagined,  is 
never  an  inconsiderable  one. 

The  organization  of  the  other  messes  is  similar 
to  that  of  the  Wardroom  Mess.  In  the  "  Steer- 
age" live  the  Junior  Officers  and  the  Marine 

*  Compare  our  parsimony  with  the  attitude  of  the  German 
government  which,  in  addition  to  his  regular  pay,  allows  each 
naval  officer  almost  thirty  dollars  a  month  for  food  and  eleven 
dollars  more  for  wines  and  beer. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SHIP  45 

Lieutenant;  in  the  Warrant  Officers'  Mess,  the 
Warrant  Officers ;  and  in  the  Petty  Officers '  Mess, 
those  of  the  enlisted  men  who,  by  diligent  and 
faithful  service,  have  won  promotion  and  part 
of  officers'  privileges. 

"Forward  of  the  mast,"  in  nautical  phrase- 
ology, but,  in  the  newer  ships,  actually  in  the 
region  of  the  quarter-deck,  lives  the  enlisted 
man,  the  "man  behind  the  gun."  The  "deck" 
is  his  home,  the  scene  of  his  many  activities,  and 
his  playground.  His  life,  it  is  true,  is  very 
different  from  that  of  his  brother  on  shore;  but 
his  standard  and  his  attributes  are  such  that  he 
makes  the  best  of  the  adverse  conditions  under 
which  he  lives — all  sea  conditions  are  abnormal 
to  the  average  man — and  does  his  work  cheer- 
fully, willingly,  and  well.  Even  our  island 
friends  across  the  Atlantic  have  come  to  acknowl- 
edge this,  and  during  the  past  few  months  have 
had  some  of  their  distinguished  naval  officers  on 
our  shores  visiting  our  latest  warships,  on  board 
of  which  "the  provision  made  for  the  comfort 
of  the  men  of  the  lower  deck  is  undoubtedly 
superior  to  that  which  obtains  in  British  vessels. ' ' 
"The  visit,"  said  the  English  periodical,  Truth, 
"ought  to  have  practical  results  for  British 
sailors.  The  Orion  class  carry  a  complement  of 
800.  The  Wyoming  carries  1,115.  If  the  Navy 
Department  at  Washington  can  get  315  more  men 


46  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

into  a  ship,  on  an  increase  of  nine  feet  more 
length,  four  and  three-quarters  feet  more  beam, 
and  one  foot  more  draught,  and  at  the  same  time 
house  and  sleep  them  much  better,  they  have 
certainly  something  to  teach  us." 

In  the  organization  of  the  enlisted  force,  the 
men  are  classified  under  four  different  heads, — 
seamen,  artificers,  specials,  and  messmen.  These 
are  divided  into  petty  officers  and  men  of  inferior 
rating,  and  each  of  these  groups  is  again  sub- 
divided into  three  classes.  When  the  appren- 
tice enlists  he  is  immediately  put  on  the  payroll 
at  $17.60  per  month.  After  four  months  at  the 
training  station,  if  he  passes  his  examination  as 
ordinary  seaman,  he  goes  on  board  ship,  which 
means  an  increase  in  his  pay  of  $3.30  per  month. 
One  year  after  this  date — provided,  of  course, 
that  he  again  passes  the  required  examination — 
he  is  advanced  to  the  rating  of  seaman,  first  class, 
at  $26.40  per  month. 

The  enlisted  man's  items  of  expense,  during 
this  time,  are  few  in  number.  He  must  pay 
for  his  uniform,  after  the  initial  outfit  which 
the  Government  gives  him  free  of  charge.  He 
is  required  to  pay  for  certain  "small  stores," 
to  meet  his  barber's  bill  (that  luxury  costing 
him  a  dollar  a  month  for  one  haircut  and 
thirty  shaves),  and  to  keep  his  clothes  clean. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SHIP  47 

Other  than  these,  his  expenditures  are  entirely 
voluntary. 

Besides  the  regular  pay  and  allowances,  the 
enlisted  man  has  many  opportunities  of  making 
extra  money.  Continuous  service,  re-enlistments, 
and  good-conduct  medals  add  to  his  regular  pay 
sums  ranging  from  83  cents  to  $5.50  per  month. 
If  the  honorably  discharged  bluejacket  re-enlists 
within  four  months,  he  is  entitled,  as  bounty,  to 
four  months'  pay.  Such  extra  duties  as  being 
coxswain  of  a  steam  launch,  serving  in  sub- 
marines, having  charge  of  store-rooms,  doing 
duty  as  messman,  being  detailed  as  signalman, 
serving  as  mail  clerk,  or  acting  as  gun-captain, 
swell  his  purse  considerably.  And  to  these  may 
be  added  the  $100  bonus  and  medal  of  honor  that 
the  Navy  Department  awards  on  the  recommen- 
dation of  his  commanding  officer  for  extraordi- 
nary deeds  of  heroism  performed  in  the  line  of 
duty. 

To  the  ambitious  young  man,  the  Service 
presents  bright  prospects  of  promotion.  From 
the  moment  that  he  has  reached  the  rating  of 
first-class  seaman,  the  enlisted  man  is  eligible  for 
advancement  to  third-class  petty  officer,  at  $33 
a  month,  as  master-at-arms,  coxswain,  gunners' 
mate,  or  quartermaster.  In  another  year  he  may 
become  a  second-class  petty  officer;  and,  after 
twelve  months  in  that  rating,  he  can  be  promoted 


48  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

to  first-class  petty  officer.  This  brings  the 
candidate  within  reach  of  a  chief  petty  officer's 
appointment,  which,  after  a  year's  creditable 
service,  becomes  permanent  and  irrevocable, 
except  by  court-martial.  Men  have  been  known 
to  attain  that  $77  appointment  within  a  compara- 
tively short  time.  Advancement  depends  only 
on  their  own  willingness  to  work  to  win  promo- 
tion); and  it  is  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule 
that  a  bluejacket  does  not  win  his  petty-officer's 
stripes  within  the  regular  four  years'  enlistment, 
or  at  the  outside  in  six  years. 

Even  then,  the  goal  has  not  yet  been  attained. 
For,  to  the  enlisted  man,  other  chances  are 
offered  and,  if  he  wishes,  he  may  next  strive  to 
win  the  rank  of  warrant  officer  and,  eventually, 
a  commission  as  ensign.  It  takes  a  man  of 
unusual  ambition,  however,  for  days  of  study  and 
self-denial  must  be  devoted  to  the  task  if  the 
necessary  examinations  are  to  be  passed.  But 
if  he  wants  to  succeed,  he  will  find  no  lack  of 
interest  and  help  in  his  efforts.  His  division 
officer  is  only  too  glad  to  facilitate  the  solution 
of  some  problem  with  an  explanation  or  to  sug- 
gest some  easier  method  of  procedure.  Text- 
books on  every  subject  are  at  his  command  in 
the  ship's  Crew's  Library,  and  the  correspond- 
ence schools  on  shore  may,  at  times,  be  of  assist- 
ance to  him.  The  opportunity  for  promotion  is 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SHIP  49 

there ;  it  depends  upon  him  alone  whether  he  will 
succeed  or  not. 

But  it  is  in  the  various  fundamental  drills 
on  shipboard,  those  essential  exercises  for  the 
welding  together  of  the  ship's  company  into  an 
efficient  unit,  that  the  broader  phases  of  the 
organization  usually  reveal  themselves.  The 
inter-relation  of  the  several  separate  depart- 
ments then  for  the  first  time  becomes  apparent, 
each  losing  its  particular  individuality  as  it 
becomes  merged  into  one  of  the  two  great 
divisions  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the 
gunnery  officer  or  engineer  officer.  The  battle 
organization  of  the  ship-of-war  has  become  per- 
fected. The  crew  are  at  general  quarters.  The 
navigator  is  inside  the  conning  tower;  the  watch 
officers  are  at  their  stations  in  the  battery  or  with 
the  fire-control  party;  the  members  of  the  pay 
department  have  taken  their  places  in  the  sub- 
stations and  are  in  charge  of  the  telephonic 
communications;  the  marines  man  the  torpedo- 
defense  guns ;  the  messmen  and  cooks  are  ranged 
in  line  in  the  handling-rooms  and  passages  ready 
for  their  duty  in  keeping  the  guns  supplied  with 
ammunition;  the  carpenter  and  his  gang  are 
below  to  repair  damages  received  in  action;  the 
electricians  are  scattered  about  the  ship,  wher- 
ever they  are  most  apt  to  be  needed;  the  boat- 
swain for  the  time  being  loses  his  identity  as  the 


50  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

seamanship  expert  of  the  ship;  the  sailmaker 
has  reported  to  the  ship's  medical  officer  for 
duty  in  the  dispensary.  Each  and  every  man 
has  his  appointed  station  in  the  military  organi- 
zation of  the  ship,  no  matter  what  his  rank,  rate, 
or  other  duty. 

Unlike  the  deck  force,  the  engineer  department 
has  but  one  task  to  perform,  but  one  duty — the 
maintenance  of  the  ship's  engines  and  boilers. 
The  " motive-power  factory"  it  has  been  called, 
and  rightly  so,  since  every  member  goes  to  work 
in  the  same  place  every  day,  under  the  same 
"bosses,"  following  the  same  directions  from 
above.  Sometimes  a  "hand"  is  cleaning  a 
station,  sometimes  repairing  it,  and  sometimes 
operating  it.  But  it  is  always  the  same  station, 
practically  speaking.  When  their  spell  of  work 
is  over,  the  "hands"  wash  up,  and  go  "home" 
to  the  ship,  just  the  same  as  any  other  factory 
hands  do.  Here  we  find  the  machinists,  the 
water  tenders,  the  firemen,  the  boilermakers,  the 
oilers,  and  the  coal  passers — each  with  the  same 
ratings  and  divided  into  the  same  classifications 
of  petty  officers  and  seamen,  with  corresponding 
pay,  and  with  the  identical  opportunities  of 
promotion,  as  their  shipmates  of  the  deck  force. 

What  is  essential,  however,  in  this  process  of 
producing  belligerent  efficiency,  is  the  relegating 
of  everything  to  its  proper  place.  The  routine 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SHIP  51 

on  board,  the  nature  and  the  extent  of  the  drills, 
and  the  apportioning  of  the  ship's  work  must 
be  governed  by  an  intelligent  application  of  the 
means  available  for  the  end  sought.  The  non- 
essentials  must  be  put  aside,  the  heirlooms  of  the 
past  dispensed  with.  We  cannot  do  without 
drill.  It  is  a  necessary  evil.  It  aims  at,  and  in 
the  end  produces,  uniformity  and,  therefore,  the 
attainment  of  team-work  and  ultimate  perfection. 
It  demands  hard  and  exacting  work,  and  it 
demands  this  for  the  training  of  the  crew  as  well 
as  for  the  maintenance  of  the  ship.  Nor  do  the 
men  object  to  it.  They  realize  its  importance  and 
evince  an  interest  in  every  useful  drill,  knowing 
full  well  that  once  a  drill  has  been  done  well  they 
will  be  called  upon  to  repeat  it  only  occasionally, 
or  often  enough  to  keep  them  properly  familiar 
with  their  stations  and  duties  in  time  of  necessity. 
Not  all  the  drills  are  held  each  day.  On  one, 
" Great  Gun  Drill"  may  be  held,  when  the  deck 
divisions  are  exercised  in  manning  the  battery 
and  put  through  all  the  motions  of  loading, 
pointing,  and  firing  the  guns.  On  another,  those 
detailed  to  the  ship's  landing  force  may  be  put 
through  the  manual  of  arms  with  rifles  and  taught 
the  "School  of  the  Soldier,"  since  the  occasion 
often  arises  when  the  bluejacket  has  to  perform 
the  service  of  an  infantry-man  and  light-artillery- 
man on  shore;  while  "Fire  Quarters"  have  to 


52  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

be  held  from  time  to  time  to  prepare  for  such  a 
contingency,  for,  should  the  crew  be  untrained, 
a  terrible  disaster  might  some  day  occur. 

Besides  these,  there  is  also  the  "Collision 
Drill,"  in  the  course  of  which  all  water-tight 
doors  and  hatches  are  closed,  and  collision  mats 
lowered  over  the  imaginary  holes  in  the  ship's 
side,  while  the  hands  unoccupied  with  these 
details  remain  at  their  stations  in  case  there 
should  be  a  call  for  abandoning  ship,  when  each 
man  has  his  place  and  allotted  task  in  the  pro- 
visioning and  arming  of  the  small  boats.  When 
"General  Quarters"  are  sounded,  all  hands  take 
their  stations  at  the  guns  and  below  decks  for 
fighting  the  ship;  "Clearing  Ship  for  Action" 
consists  in  clearing  the  upper  decks  of  all 
unnecessary  rigging  and  other  material,  and 
lowering  away  the  ship's  boats  so  that  all  danger 
from  splinters  in  time  of  battle  may  be  minimized 
as  much  as  possible;  and  "Coaling  Ship"  occurs 
whenever  the  supply  of  fuel  in  the  bunkers  is 
getting  low.  This  last  is  the  most  arduous  work 
the  crew  of  a  man-of-war  can  be  called  upon  to 
perform.  Strictly  speaking,  it  is  not  a  drill,  but 
its  importance  in  time  of  war  is  such  that  care- 
fully organized  methods  in  coaling  have  come  to 
be  considered  of  prime  military  necessity. 

These  are  the  "fundamental  drills"  of  the 
modern  ship-of-war  as  affecting  her  efficiency  and 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SHIP  53 

the  welding  together  of  her  crew  into  an  effective 
unit.  In  all  is  the  interest  of  the  men  stimulated 
and  fostered  by  a  spirit  of  clean  competition,  and 
as  they  understand  their  meaning  and  read  the 
bulletins  showing  the  standings  of  the  various 
ships  their  enthusiasm  becomes  more  real. 
Every  man  comes  to  appreciate  the  importance 
of  his  own  small  share  in  the  final  result;  his 
interest  is  encouraged  by  his  own  immediate 
superiors,  those  " specialty  foremen"  already 
alluded  to;  and  this  enthusiasm,  properly 
guided  by  the  ship's  officers,  is  what,  in  the 
end,  is  the  secret  of  the  success  of  that  "curious 
combination,"  the  naval  organization  on  ship- 
board. 


THE  BLUEJACKET'S  DAILY  LIFE 

An  English  writer  not  long  ago  described  a 
battleship  as  the  last  word  in  aggressiveness  pro- 
nounced by  mechanical  genius,  naval  construction, 
and  cash  payment.  From  keel  to  truck,  from 
ram  to  sternpost,  she  is  the  most  complicated 
machine  the  mind  of  man  ever  conceived.  She 
is  a  citadel  that  must  carry  the  heaviest  guns  for 
offensive  power;  a  fort  whose  vital  parts  must 
be  protected  against  injury  by  the  thickest  and 
best  armor ;  a  ship  to  be  taken  to  sea  and  capable 
of  making  passages  from  port  to  port.  She  is, 
in  fact,  a  fighting  machine,  so  big  and  so  shaped 
that  every  characteristic  of  her  appearance  con- 
veys the  impression  of  a  heartless,  monstrous 
engine  of  destruction. 

All  this  is  true.  For  the  man-of-war  is  built 
for  battle,  and  for  battle  only,  and  the  sole  aim 
of  her  designers  has  been  to  fit  her  for  the  role 
that  she  some  day  may  be  obliged  to  play.  But 
once  she  has  been  launched,  completed,  and  placed 
in  commission,  the  interested  visitor  cannot  fail 
to  become  sensible  of  the  pulse-beat  of  a  complex 
life  that  throbs  through  every  frame  of  her 
gigantic  hull.  The  ship  that,  in  the  making,  had 


THE  BLUEJACKET'S  DAILY  LIFE          55 

been  but  a  mass  of  vacant  emplacements,  empty 
gun-ports,  and  deserted  compartments,  now  that 
the  national  colors  are  flying  at  the  stern,  no 
longer  is  "without  a  soul."  She  has  become  the 
home  for  a  thousand  men;  not  a  place  in  which 
her  crew  spend  the  eight  working  hours  of  the 
day,  but  a  place  where  they  live  the  full  twenty- 
four  hours,  year  in  and  year  out.  The  ship  also 
must  have  all  the  facilities  for  clothing,  feeding, 
and  housing  her  men.  And  everything  must  be 
adequate — the  laundry,  the  kitchens,  the  cold- 
storage  rooms,  the  sleeping  compartments,  the 
bathtubs,  the  showerbaths,  the  fresh-water  plant, 
the  lighting  plant,  and  all  those  things  that  go 
to  make  a  home. 

It  is  this  personal  side,  this  "human"  touch, 
that  appeals  so  strongly.  The  ship  no  longer  is 
an  inanimate  object,  but  a  real  live  being  with 
a  personality,  and  with  peculiarities  and  charac- 
teristics as  distinctive  from  those  of  her  sisters 
as  are  those  traits  in  as  many  different  persons. 
Ask  any  sailor  and  you  will  hear  tales  that  will 
make  you  wonder  whether  those  yarns  of  green- 
eyed  sea-serpents  were  so  far-fetched  after  all. 

To  many  people,  certain  phases  of  the  life 
within  a  battleship 's  steel  walls  are  not  altogether 
unknown.  They  have  heard  that  the  officers  dwell 
in  the  after  part  of  the  vessel  and  have  separate 
rooms  with  berths  in  them,  like  the  state-rooms 


56  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

of  an  ocean  liner;  and  they  know  that  there  are 
officers  and  enlisted  men,  marines  and  others. 
But  there  the  information  ends.  How  is  the 
housekeeping  for  those  thousand  odd  men  con- 
ducted, who  buys  their  food,  and  what  do  those 
men  do  with  themselves  all  day  long?  No  wonder 
the  question  comes  to  mind.  The  Navy  Regula- 
tions clearly  specify  how  all  this  is  to  be  done, 
and  when;  but  every  civilian  cannot  be  expected 
to  have  a  copy  of  that  document  on  his  library 
shelf,  and  the  daily  press  usually  denies  him  all 
information  about  the  navy  that  has  the  ear- 
marks of  being  ''usual"  or  " commonplace. " 
Yet  nothing  is  really  more  interesting  than  this 
11  uneventful"  daily  life  of  the  thousands  of 
bluejackets  who  today  man  the  fighting  ships 
of  our  navy. 

Officially,  the  day  on  shipboard  begins  at  eight 
o'clock,  when  the  national  colors  are  hoisted,  to 
the  strains  of  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner"; 
actually,  the  ship  is  astir  hours  earlier.  The 
ship's  cook  has  been  roused  before  dawn,  some- 
times as  early  as  three  o'clock,  so  that  the  crew 
may  have  their  bracer  of  steaming  coffee  before 
settling  down  to  the  early  morning  routine.  At 
5.30  a.m.,  the  blare  of  bugles  sounds  the  reveille, 
backed  up  by  a  chorus  of  boatswains'  pipes  and 
the  warning  admonition,  "Up  all  hammocks! 
Rise  and  shine!"  No  extra  naps  are  allowed. 


THE  BLUEJACKET'S  DAILY  LIFE          57 

The  decks  must  be  cleared  of  hammocks  in  fifteen 
minutes.  Then  the  * '  smoMng-lamp, "  a  cherished 
tradition  of  the  old  navy,  is  lit,  all  hands  stuff 
their  pipes  for  a  hasty  pull,  and  coffee  and 
hardtack  are  served. 

' '  Scrub  and  wash  clothes ! ' '  From  some  myste- 
rious cache  appear  buckets,  soap,  brush,  and 
water.  Every  man  is  at  it.  And  the  bluejacket 
washes  himself  and  scrubs  his  clothes  as  if  this 
were  his  favorite  pastime.  Force  of  habit,  you 
say  to  yourself.  It  is  a  lesson  he  learned  at  the 
Naval  Training  Station  the  very  day  he  enlisted 
in  the  service — that  neatness  of  person  and  dress 
is  a  requirement  that  the  navy  exacts  from  every 
man.  And  it  is  a  good  habit  he  never  forgets. 

At  6.30  all  hands  commence  to  clean  ship.  The 
crew  is  divided  into  divisions,  to  each  of  which 
is  assigned  a  certain  portion  of  the  vessel  to 
clean.  The  ship  is  running  with  water  ankle 
deep;  men  everywhere  are  cleaning  decks  and 
paint-work,  scrubbing  boats,  and,  later,  polishing 
brightwork.  This  duty  is  not  arduous,  as  the 
stations  are  small  and  there  are  so  many  men 
on  board  among  whom  the  work  can  be  divided. 

At  7.30  the  bluejacket  gets  his  breakfast — and 
he  is  thoroughly  ready  for  it.  Ham  omelette, 
potatoes,  bread,  butter,  and  coffee  is  a  sample 
bill-of-fare  of  this  meal.  The  food  is  good,  clean, 
and  wholesome,  well-cooked  and  neatly  served. 


58  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

All  the  cooking  of  the  ship  is  done  on  one  great 
range,  in  what  is  called  the  "  galley. "  Here  the 
ship's  cook  reigns  supreme.  He  is  paid  from 
$28  to  $61  a  month,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
ship;  and  he  gets  perquisites  from  the  messes. 
The  men  of  the  crew  are  divided  into  so  many 
messes,  according  to  the  parts  of  the  ship  in 
which  they  swing  their  hammocks  at  night.  Each 
mess  has  its  own  cook,  and  these  work  under  the 
general  supervision  of  the  ship's  cook,  and 
heaven  help  them  if  their  work  is  not  well  done ! 

With  the  cook  rests  the  problem  of  preparing 
the  meals  for  the  men.  But  the  responsibility  of 
properly  feeding  the  crew  falls  also  upon  another 
important  personage,  the  paymaster.  It  is  he 
who,  as  the  representative  of  the  government, 
purchases  the  supplies,  with  the  regular  allow- 
ance of  "  thirty  cents  per-man-per-day"  granted 
by  the  statutes.  The  amount  of  each  article  of 
food  allowed  to  each  man  for  one  day  is  specifi- 
cally stated.  These  articles  are  all  provided  by 
contract.  For  instance,  the  paymaster  gets  the 
fresh  beef  from  a  certain  man  as  "per  contract 
No.  3201."  The  quantity  of  beef  per  meal  is 
then  decided  by  the  number  of  men  in  the  crew. 
The  paymaster's  yeoman  measures  out  the  pre- 
cise amount  allowed.  This  is  served  out  to  the 
ship's  cook,  and  the  storeroom  locked  up.  The 
beef  is  then  cooked,  subjected  to  the  knife  of  the 


THE  BLUEJACKET'S  DAILY  LIFE          59 

carving  machine,  and  when  served  to  the  men 
is  found  to  have  been  cut  into  pieces  so  equal 
that  each  one  has  received  the  precise  pound-and- 
a-quarter-a-day  allowed  him  by  the  all-ruling 
Navy  Regulations. 

All  this  time,  the  smoking-lamp  has  been 
shedding  its  figurative  rays,  and  the  men  have 
the  next  hour  in  which  to  get  into  the  uniform 
of  the  day — which  is  designated  by  signal  from 
the  flagship  every  morning  and  depends  upon  the 
climate  or  the  work  to  be  done — to  examine  their 
ditty  boxes  and  bags,  wherein  all  their  worldly 
goods  are  stowed,  to  visit  the  sick-bay  if  they 
feel  in  need  of  medical  attendance,  and  to  make 
everything  shipshape  for  quarters  at  9.30,  when 
the  division  officers  inspect  their  men  for  neatness 
of  uniform  and  general  condition. 

From  then  until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
with  the  exception  of  an  hour  for  dinner  at  noon, 
"when  the  sun  crosses  the  yardarm,"  the  greater 
part  of  the  time  is  spent  in  drill — drill,  that 
necessary  evil,  without  which  no  perfection  is 
possible.  But  there  is  an  intelligent  application 
of  the  means  available  in  apportioning  this  all- 
important  part  of  the  ship's  work,  and  it  is  a 
rare  occurrence  to  find  the  crews  doing  the  same 
thing  any  two  days  in  succession.  The  big-gun 
drills,  boat  drills  under  oars  or  sails,  general 
quarters,  signal  drills,  fire  quarters,  collision 


60  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

drills,  infantry  and  field  artillery  exercises,  clear- 
ing ship  for  action,  collision  and  abandon-ship 
drills,  searchlight  drills — all  have  a  place  in  the 
busy  life  of  the  man-o '-warsman,  and  are  often 
interspersed  with  short  practical  talks  by  the 
division  officers  or  by  officers  specially  well- 
informed  on  the  subject  under  discussion. 

Of  course  it  is  hard  work.  The  bluejacket  often 
does  not  see  why  he  has  to  go  through  the  antics 
of  setting-up  exercises,  or  why  he  has  to  go 
'  *  up  and  over, ' n  or  why  he  has  to  run  an  obstacle 
race  over  the  decks  with  the  rest  of  his  shipmates. 
He  grumbles — every  true  sailor  grumbles — but 
he  soon  comes  to  appreciate  what  it  all  means 
and  why  he  does  this  and  not  that.  Then  he 
is  satisfied.  Discipline  and  efficiency  always 
demand  hard  and  exacting  work  both  for  the 
training  of  the  crew  and  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  ship.  The  men  never  object  to  intelli- 
gent work  itself,  or  to  interesting  and  useful 
drills.  Boating  and  swimming — prime  "  mili- 
tary" requisites  of  the  sailor — are  the  delight  of 
their  existence;  their  enthusiasm  for  loading 
drills  knows  no  bounds ;  their  interest  in  steaming 
competitions  is  keyed  up  to  the  highest  pitch; 
and  even  coaling  ship  is  no  bugbear  when  it 
comes  to  beating  another  ship's  record. 

Eight  bells!    Four  o'clock,  and  the  " knock  off 

i  The  exercise  of  climbing  up  and  down  the  mainmast. 


THE  BLUEJACKET'S  DAILY  LIFE          61 

all  work"  period  has  come.  It  is  then  the  blue- 
jacket smokes  his  pipe  and  takes  his  ease  and 
sings  his  songs.  The  baseball,  football,  or  track 
teams  are  getting  ready  to  go  ashore  for  their 
daily  afternoon  practice.  The  race-boat  crew 
are  manning  their  twelve-oared  cutter  prepara- 
tory to  taking  a  ten-mile  pull  through  the  fleet 
and  an  occasional  brush  with  a  rival  ship.  Under 
the  lee  of  the  mainmast  on  the  upper  deck  four 
sturdy  bluejackets  are  pulling  away  at  the  fifty- 
pound  pulley  weights  in  the  hope  of  getting 
enough  practice  to  eventually  win  a  place  on 
"the  crew." 

A  joyous  bugle-call  sounds  throughout  every 
compartment;  it  is  "Swimming  Call."  The  men 
spring  to  their  feet.  Every  afternoon  and  every 
morning,  before  breakfast,  weather  permitting, 
the  men  are  allowed  to  go  over  the  side  and  swim 
about,  while  a  dinghy,  manned  by  a  "life-saving 
crew, ' '  stands  ready  to  assist  any  tired  swimmer. 

Below  decks  no  one  is  idle.  In  a  corner  of  the 
battery,  the  ship 's  tailor  is  bent  over  a  diminutive 
sewing  machine.  Beside  him,  another  blue- 
jacket crawls  on  all  fours  over  a  strip  of  blue 
cloth  that  he  is  cutting  out  for  his  mate.  Not 
far  off,  a  youngster  is  engrossed  in  a  magazine 
or  book  selected  from  the  large  and  well-stocked 
ship's  library  with  which  the  government  fur- 
nishes every  vessel  of  the  navy.  Still  farther 


62  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

off,  the  ship's  barber  and  his  assistants  are  hard 
at  work,  while  a  long  line  of  white-clad  men 
impatiently  await  the  call  of  "Next,  Sir!" 

Wander  up  on  the  forecastle,  and  there  take 
a  glance  at  the  "ship's  playground,"  and  you 
realize  that  the  sailor's  life  is  not  altogether  one 
of  hard  work.  A  group  is  squatted  on  the 
deck,  playing  checkers,  cards,  or  backgammon. 
Another  cluster  of  immaculately  white-clad  men 
are  lying  fast  asleep  under  the  shadow  of  the 
turret — they  say  no  man  has  any  business  going 
to  sea  unless  he  can  sleep  at  any  time  of  the  day 
or  night.  Up  forward,  a  few  of  the  many  animal- 
lovers  on  board  are  playing  with  the  mascots — 
a  bear,  or  goat,  or  dog,  or  cat,  or  pig,  or  parrot, 
as  the  case  may  be.  Few  ships  are  without 
mascots.  The  sailor's  natural  fondness  for  pets 
is  proverbial,  and  fortunate  indeed  is  the  animal 
that  falls  into  his  hands.  As  a  well-known 
prelate2  once  said:  "The  sailor-man  has  his 
vagaries,  but  he  is  the  tenderest-hearted  creature 
into  which  God  ever  breathed  the  breath  of  life. ' ' 

Mess-call  for  supper  interrupts  these  good 
times  at  six.  The  tables  and  benches,  which  are 
hung  under  the  deck-beams  when  not  in  use,  are 
set  up  on  deck,  the  table-ware — plates,  cups, 
spoons,  knives,  and  forks — laid  out  at  each 

2  The  Bishop  of  Shanghai;  quoted  in  The  World's  Work, 
February,  1905,  p.  3080. 


THE  BLUEJACKET'S  DAILY  LIFE          63 

place  by  the  mess  cook;  and  when  the  meal  is 
announced,  the  enlisted  man  finds  served  some 
fresh  meat  pie  or  bologna  sausages,  potatoes, 
fresh  fruits,  bread,  butter,  and  tea,  or  other 
equally  appetizing  dishes. 

After  supper,  the  sailor's  time  is  his  own;  or, 
as  he  himself  says,  he  is  "allowed  considerable 
leeway."  What  he  now  does  is  left  to  his  own 
choice.  Perhaps  he  dances  on  deck  to  the  music 
of  the  ship's  band — which,  by  the  way,  renders 
a  number  of  selections  three  times  a  day,  after 
each  meal.  Or  he  may  see  the  "movies,"  since 
each  ship  has  a  moving-picture  machine,  and  new 
runs  of  reels  every  week.  Or  he  and  his  ship- 
mates may  give  a  smoker,  or  attend  theatricals 
given  by  the  crew  of  some  other  ship  that  evening. 

Then,  at  nine  o'clock,  comes  another  bugle- 
call.  It  is  "tattoo,"  which,  in  five  minutes,  is 
followed  by  ' '  taps, ' '  after  which  every  man  must 
be  in  his  hammock  and  quiet  until  the  bugle  again 
summons  him  to  rise  in  the  morning.  But,  as  a 
rule,  by  that  time  the  sailor  is  quite  ready  for 
bed  and  for  his  eight  hours'  sleep.  He  willingly 
swings  his  hammock — sailors  never  sleep  in 
beds — and,  after  carefully  folding  his  uniform 
and  placing  it  under  his  pillow,  where  it  will  be 
neatly  pressed  for  him  when  he  awakes  the  next 
morning,  climbs  up  into  his  folding-bed,  which 
he  finds  more  comfortable  than  any  the  summer 


64  OUB  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

boarder  ever  rigged  up  on  the  front  porch  of  a 
bungalow. 

Such  is  the  daily  routine  on  board  the  men-o'- 
war  of  our  navy,  as  set  down  in  the  traditional 
regulation  books.  Of  course,  it  is  subject  to 
variations.  For  example,  on  Wednesday  and 
Saturday  afternoons  the  men's  time  is  usually 
their  own.  Sundays,  after  muster  and  divine 
service,  the  bluejacket  is  subject  to  no  further 
restrictions.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the  periods 
of  drill  as  outlined  are  often  changed  by  reason 
of  the  duty  upon  which  the  ship  is  engaged,  or 
because  of  the  severe  weather  of  the  North,  or 
of  the  heat  of  the  tropics.  It  is  an  ill  rule  that 
allows  for  no  exceptions,  and  the  navy,  fortu- 
nately for  the  interest  and  fascination  of  its 
work,  has  learned  this  saying  and  learned  it  well.8 

3  See  Appendix  IV. 


o 
g 

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o 

2C 
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5 
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THE  BATTLESHIP  AS  AN  EDUCATIONAL 
INSTITUTION 

It  has  always  been  a  question  for  debate  in 
this  country  whether  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
should  be  represented  by  a  large  and  efficient 
navy,  or  whether  a  few  units  would  not  answer 
our  purpose  and  meet  the  exigencies  of  the 
present  moment.  The  politicians  have  argued 
the  question;  the  citizens  themselves  have 
thrashed  it  out;  and  even  the  peace  enthusiasts 
have  interpreted  it  to  their  own  satisfaction. 
But  none  appears  to  have  viewed  the  matter 
from  an  unbiased  point  of  view.  The  navy  has 
always  seemed  a  mere  collection  of  fighting 
machines — dogs  of  war  awaiting  the  command 
to  rush  forth  to  combat — a  folly,  a  wanton 
extravagance.  Yet  today,  when  a  large  part  of 
the  offensive  object  of  the  navy  may  seem 
unnecessary  because  of  the  closer  and  more 
intimate  relations  of  nations  and  the  higher 
development  of  mankind,  the  Service  has  proved 
its  adaptability  to  fit  into  the  new  order  of  things 
and  has  become  a  large  national  university  for 
the  training  of  citizens  for  our  republic.1 

i  This  industrial  education  of  the  enlisted  personnel  is,  however, 
only  incidental  to  the  maintenance  of  the  navy  as  an  efficient 


66  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

Those  who  believe  in  unlimited  arbitration  and 
universal  peace  and  disarmament  apparently 
have  entirely  overlooked  this  unique  feature  of 
our  sea  force.  A  single  reading  of  the  require- 
ments of  citizenship  would  reveal  to  them  how 
perfectly  the  Service  trains  young  men  for  their 
duty  to  their  country.  For  the  navy  is  an 
educator.  While  preparing  the  ships  and  their 
crews  for  the  national  defense,  it  gives  its  fifty 
thousand  enlisted  men  a  thorough  practical  train- 
ing in  the  useful  trades  of  peace.  The  battle- 
ship is  not  merely  a  fighting  machine,  but  it  is  in 
every  sense  a  complete  and  splendidly  equipped 
manual  training  school,  where  men  are  engaged 
in  a  score  of  different  occupations  specially 
fitting  them  for  careers  in  civil  life.  Electri- 
cians, bakers,  boilermakers,  cooks,  coppersmiths, 
carpenters,  pharmacists,  machinists,  plumbers, 
sailmakers,  stenographers,  painters,  wireless 
telegraphers,  bookkeepers,  are  all  educated  and 
trained.  And  in  doing  all  this,  the  navy  is,  in 
the  essentials,  carrying  out  a  policy  of  industrial 
education  such  as  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts not  long  ago  adopted  after  careful  and 

instrument  of  national  defense.  The  navy,  it  is  well  to  remember, 
is  an  institution  for  war,  and  for  war  only.  Its  primary  purpose 
can  never  be  "Education"  in  the  sense  advocated  by  the  present 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  unless  the  new  primary  school  move- 
ment is  carefully  safeguarded,  the  officers  of  our  ships  of  war 
will  soon  be  devoting  their  energies  to  the  education  of  their 
men  for  civil  pursuits  rather  than  for  war  service. 


AN  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTION  67 

authoritative  investigation.  It  is  practical  edu- 
cation designed  to  fit  the  youth  to  take  care  of 
himself  in  the  world.  It  is  the  kind  that  will 
bring  out  all  that  is  good,  that  will  develop  him, 
and  make  of  him  a  man.  It  develops  "  naval 
efficiency,"  the  qualities  constituting  which  the 
London  Times,  in  a  leading  article  in  1899, 
enumerated  as  "self-reliance  and  resource,  calm- 
ness and  self-possession  in  emergency,  quickness 
of  eye  and  steadiness  of  nerve,  steadfastness  in 
danger,  self -helpfulness  in  difficulties,  and  a  quick 
sense  of  comradeship," — a  summary  that  has 
been  neither  denied  nor  amplified. 

"The  true  meaning  of  the  term  'education*  is 
often  lost  sight  of,"  writes  Admiral  Sir  Cyprian 
Bridge,  R.  N.2  "It  is  not  a  mere  scheme  of 
imparting  school-room  instruction.  It  is  a  system 
of  bringing  up  the  youth  of  a  nation,  and  not 
with  the  aid  of  books  alone,  for  the  part  that  it 
will  have  to  play  in  the  national  life. ' '  This  role 
the  navy  pre-eminently  plays.  It  teaches  patriot- 
ism, and  reverence  for  the  flag  and  for  every- 
thing the  flag  stands  for.  It  instills  in  the  youth 
a  respect  for  duly  constituted  authority — a  trait 
sadly  lacking  in  the  American  character  of  today. 
It  teaches  the  young  citizen  how  to  live  health- 
fully and  how  to  take  care  of  his  body  properly. 
It  gives  him  a  broader  view  of  life  by  training 

2  In  his  Art  of  Naval  Warfare,  p.  75. 


68  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

him  in  a  career  in  which  he  will  be  capable  of 
manual  self-support;  and  by  teaching  him  some- 
thing about  other  nations,  it  makes  him  appre- 
ciate what  his  country  is,  and  what  its  place 
should  be  among  the  powers  of  the  world.  And 
it  drills  in  these  essentials  through  instructors 
who  are  not  theorists  but  practical  masters  of 
their  subjects,  and  the  leaders  physically,  men- 
tally, and  professionally,  of  the  men  placed  under 
their  charge. 

The  personnel  of  the  navy  may,  therefore,  be 
said  to  consist  of  two  separate  and  distinct 
classes ;  the  officers,  who  follow  a  profession,  and 
the  enlisted  men,  who  follow  a  trade.  The  one 
is  the  instructor;  the  other  the  pupil,  to  whom, 
by  the  way,  no  opportunity  is  ever  denied  of  also 
eventually  attaining  commissioned  rank. 

To  qualify  for  the  naval  profession,  young  men 
already  well  grounded  in  English  studies  attend 
the  technical  college  at  Annapolis,  Md.,  known 
as  the  United  States  Naval  Academy.  Here, 
during  four  years,  they  pass  through  an  academic 
course  that  gives  them  the  preliminary  training 
necessary  to  fit  them  for  their  chosen  life- 
profession.  On  graduation  they  join  their  first 
ship,  and  with  this,  their  first  commission,  begins 
an  active  career  in  which  the  details  of  handling 
ships,  men,  and  guns  are  learned  in  the  only 
school  for  sea-officers — the  ship. 


AN  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTION  69 

With  the  enlisted  men,  however,  the  conditions 
are  different.  The  young  Americans  who  go 
into  the  navy  must  be  between  the  ages  of  seven- 
teen and  thirty-five  years,  and  be  of  a  normal 
height  and  weight;  they  must  be  American  citi- 
zens, native  or  naturalized,  and  must,  in  addition, 
furnish  satisfactory  evidence  of  good  moral 
character.  The  term  of  enlistment  is  for  four 
years,  exactly  as  long  as  the  undergraduate 
course  of  our  universities  and  colleges,  but  there 
are  no  vacations  other  than  the  usual  three  ten- 
day  periods  allowed  annually  by  the  Regulations. 
Once  enlisted,  the  recruit,  now  known  as  "an 
apprentice  seaman,"  is  sent  to  one  of  the  several 
excellent  training  stations  which  the  service 
maintains  to  ground  the  men  in  the  various  duties 
required  of  them  before  launching  them  upon 
the  broader  and  more  complex  life  of  the  man-o  '- 
war.  These  stations  are  located  at  Newport, 
B.  I. ;  Norfolk,  Va. ;  North  Chicago,  HI.,  and  San 
Francisco,  Cal.,  and  here  for  four  months  the 
recruits  are  instructed  in  the  rudiments  of  their 
"trade." 

Immediately  upon  reporting  at  the  indicated 
station  the  apprentice  receives  from  the  Govern- 
ment an  outfit  of  clothing,  which  is  given  him 
outright  as  capital  with  which  to  start  his  new 
life — uniforms  for  winter  and  summer,  shoes, 
underwear,  cap,  sweater,  overcoat,  oilskins,  and 


70  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

rubber  boots — in  all  amounting  to  sixty  dollars 
in  value.  These  are  fitted  by  a  tailor.  Then  he 
is  ready  for  instruction. 

Under  the  immediate  supervision  of  a  petty 
officer  the  recruit  forms  part  of  the  "newcomers' 
squad,"  in  which  he  is  taught  the  necessity  of 
discipline,  regular  habits,  and  cleanliness  of 
person.  His  first  lesson  is  in  how  to  keep  his 
own  things  shipshape,  how  to  keep  his  uniform 
neat,  how  to  stow  his  bag,  how  to  sling  his 
hammock  and  lash  it  handily,  and  how  to  swim. 
All  this  takes  place  in  well-heated  and  well- 
ventilated  barracks. 

Then  the  apprentice  seaman  is  assigned  to  a 
company  or  division,  and  he  begins  to  master  the 
various  drills  and  exercises.  He  learns  how  to 
"box  the  compass"  from  the  huge  painted  repro- 
duction on  the  wall  of  the  drill-hall;  he  acquires 
a  knowledge  of  signalling  and  soon  becomes 
familiar  with  the  flags  of  all  nations ;  he  becomes 
proficient  in  heaving  the  lead  and  in  the  use  of 
the  log,  gradually  mastering  the  difficulties  of 
the  ' '  marks ' '  and  ' '  deeps. ' '  The  model  room  and 
rigging  loft  afford  him  plenty  of  opportunities 
for  making  knots  and  hitches,  splicing  ropes,  and 
coiling  down  gear,  until  he  has  acquired  the 
ability  of  making  himself  a  handy  man  about 
the  decks. 

This  brief  experience  fits  him  to  take  his  place 


S3 

o 

i 

C/3 


AN  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTION  71 

on  board  one  of  the  small  practice  vessels 
attached  to  the  station,  and  during  his  first  cruise 
he  puts  into  use  afloat  what  he  has  already 
learned  on  shore.  The  life  on  shipboard  becomes 
perfectly  familiar  to  him,  he  acquires  his  "sea 
legs,"  and  by  the  time  these  cruises  are  over,  he 
comes  to  know  about  hoisting  boats,  getting  under 
way,  anchoring,  steering — an  application  of  his 
early  training  which  he  could  not  get  in  any  other 
way. 

The  four  months  ended,  the  apprentice  seaman 
is  ready  for  advancement.  An  examination  is 
given  him  in  all  that  he  has  thus  far  learned,  and 
if  he  qualifies,  he  gets  a  rating  and  goes  on  board 
a  man-o'-war,  with  an  increase  of  pay  and  with 
the  knowledge  that  his  certain  and  steady  promo- 
tion in  the  future  depends  solely  upon  his  own 
energy,  zeal,  and  good  behavior. 

The  seaman  has  now  been  partly  trained.  But 
his  sphere  of  action,  as  he  well  knows,  is  necessa- 
rily limited,  because  he  knows  only  the  rudiments. 
This  is  well  appreciated.  For  in  every  ship's 
company  a  certain  proportion  of  the  seaman  class, 
the  deck  force,  are  not  specialists  in  any  of  the 
many  trades  represented  on  board,  and  the 
problem  that  now  arises  is  their  further  training 
in  order  to  make  them  efficient  men-o '-war's  men 
in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word.  Formerly,  in 
the  "good  old  days,"  when  the  crews  of  our  war- 


72  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

ships  were  recruited  almost  exclusively  from  the 
seafaring  population  of  the  coast  towns,  it  was 
not  essential  that  the  men  have  any  other  quali- 
fications than  a  mere  knowledge  of  how  to  "reef, 
hand,  and  steer."  But  today  the  need  is  for  an 
entirely  different  class  of  men.  The  duties  of 
the  enlisted  man  are  complex,  the  modern  sailor 
is  more  of  a  mechanic,  and  the  majority  of  the 
men  are  drawn  from  the  inland  States  rather 
than  from  the  seaboard. 

To  meet  these  new  conditions  we  now  find 
schools  in  various  sections  of  the  United  States 
where  the  men  may  be  trained  as  specialists 
in  the  different  duties  so  necessary  on  board 
the  modern  Dreadnought.  Two  large  Electrical 
Schools  are  maintained  at  New  York  and  Mare 
Island,  CaL,  for  those  who  desire  to  receive  the 
benefit  of  that  course  of  instruction.  Here  the 
candidates  are  given  a  thorough  training  in  all 
that  has  to  do  with  the  electrical  work  on  ship- 
board. For  on  the  battleship  of  today  nearly 
everything  mechanical  is  done  by  electricity. 
The  anchors  are  hoisted  by  electric  winches,  the 
ship  is  steered  by  an  electric  device,  electric 
ranges  in  the  galleys  are  used  to  cook  the  crew's 
meals,  a  great  dynamo-room  furnishes  the  light 
for  all  of  the  thousand  inhabitants  on  board, 
and  some  vessels  are  even  propelled  by  elec- 
tric power  alone.  The  electrician's  work  is, 


AN  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTION  73 

therefore,  a  most  important  one,  and  he  has  to 
become  a  past-master  of  his  trade.  And  in 
addition,  modern  conditions  have  imposed  upon 
him  the  added  responsibility  of  the  wireless, 
which  has  become  so  essential  a  part  of  a  ship's 
equipment.  Three  hundred  young  men  are 
usually  in  attendance  at  the  Eadio  Service 
Schools,  where  they  devote  five  months  to  acquir- 
ing the  principle  and  theory  of  that  interesting 
application  of  science.  They  here  learn  to  build 
the  powerful  wireless  apparatus  from  absolutely 
"raw"  materials;  they  are  taught  the  assem- 
bling of  motors  and  dynamos;  they  become 
familiar  with  every  detail  of  construction  and 
operation.  This  accomplished,  the  radio  opera- 
tor goes  to  sea  with  the  active  fleet,  and  after  a 
year  as  assistant  operator  he  obtains  his  reward 
in  a  permanent  berth. 

Next,  and  equal  in  importance,  to  the  Electrical 
Schools  are  the  Seaman-Gunners'  Classes,  which 
are  open  to  bluejackets  who  have  served  four 
years  and  have  clearly  shown  their  ability.  This 
school  has  two  homes,  one  at  the  Washington 
Navy  Yard  and  the  other  at  the  Newport  Naval 
Torpedo  Station.  The  class  in  Washington  meets 
in  February  and  August,  and  the  course  continues 
for  six  months,  when  the  men  are  qualified  (as 
gunners'  mates)  in  all  that  pertains  to  the 
battery  of  the  man-o'-war.  The  work  is  equally 


74  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

divided  between  the  classroom  and  the  Naval 
Gun  Factory.  The  men  learn  how  to  assemble 
guns,  breech  mechanisms,  and  everything  that  has 
to  do  with  the  practical  part  of  ordnance,  the 
manufacture  of  shells,  and  the  various  firing  and 
aiming  devices.  Work  on  the  big  guns  starts  on 
the  huge  100-ton  cylinders  of  steel,  which  are 
trimmed  and  forged,  drilled  and  grooved,  and 
finally  expanded  by  heat  to  receive  the  tempered 
steel  lining.  Then  the  gunnery  aspirants  enter 
the  forge  shop,  and  from  there  pass  through  the 
various  departments  until  their  instruction  closes 
with  a  fortnight  at  the  Naval  Proving  Grounds 
at  Indian  Head,  Md.  After  this  the  Naval 
Torpedo  School  at  Newport  supplements  the 
learning  already  acquired  with  an  eight  months' 
course  in  the  manufacture  and  use  of  high  explo- 
sives, the  care  of  torpedoes,  and  the  construction 
and  laying  of  submarine  mines. 

What  else  must  be  known  by  those  on  board 
the  modern  ship-of-war  is  revealed  by  a  glance 
at  the  other  schools  located  at  Charleston,  San 
Francisco,  Norfolk,  and  Newport.  At  Charleston, 
the  school  for  machinists  furnishes  an  opportu- 
nity for  those  interested  in  mechanics  to  study 
engines  and  marine  boilers  and  thus  acquire  a 
theoretical  and  practical  education  to  prepare 
themselves  for  petty  officers  and  warrant  officers 
in  the  artificer  branch — engine-room  force — of 


AN  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTION  75 

the  navy.  At  Norfolk,  carpenters,  plumbers, 
blacksmiths,  coppersmiths,  painters,  and  cooks 
are  turned  out  by  the  score.  There  are  Yeoman 
Schools  for  the  instruction  of  men  in  the  clerical 
duties  of  the  navy,  the  Musicians'  School  for  the 
training  of  members  of  the  ships '  bands,  and  the 
Naval  Hospitals  at  the  various  yards  where  the 
hospital  apprentices  are  taught  the  practical  side 
of  ward  work,  pharmacy,  and  chemistry. 

This  completes  the  curriculum  of  our  great 
national  university.  Its  traditions  are  an  inspira- 
tion few  other  educational  institutions  can  boast 
of,  and  its  motto — "Fidelity,  Obedience,  and 
Ability" — briefly  describes  a  type  of  character 
that  has  ever  been  a  source  of  pride  to  the 
Service. 

Every  year  thousands  of  bluejackets  who  have 
had  at  least  four  years'  training  in  the  navy 
return  to  civil  life.  None  fail  to  secure  imme- 
diate good  employment,  for  American  employers 
have  learned  through  experience  that  the  grad- 
uates from  the  Fleet  are,  without  exception,  so 
well  grounded  in  their  work,  so  resourceful,  and 
so  far  above  the  average  in  their  ability  and 
willingness  to  make  suggestions,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  obey  quickly,  without  sullenness  or 
resentment,  that  they  have  generally  welcomed 
men  who  have  been  trained  afloat  under  such 
conditions  as  have  existed  in  recent  years. 


76  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

The  policy  of  the  Navy  Department  to  better 
the  condition  of  the  enlisted  man  on  board  ship 
and  increase  his  opportunities  has  done  much  in 
recent  years  to  attract  to  the  navy  a  class  of 
young  men  of  whom  the  country  may  well  be 
proud.  No  patriotic  citizen  can  visit  one  of  our 
great  Dreadnoughts  and  escape  a  feeling  of 
admiration  when  he  sees  the  clean-cut,  intelligent 
bluejackets  who  are  giving  their  services  to  their 
country.  Each  one  of  them  is  an  exponent  of 
healthful  life,  good  habits,  and  the  discipline  of 
the  Service.  How  high  is  that  standard  of 
character  is  not  generally  appreciated,  and  can- 
not be,  unless  one  realizes  that  out  of  75,457 
applicants  for  enlistment  in  the  navy  during 
the  past  year  (1913)  only  17,918  were  accepted  1 
Membership  in  the  navy  is  indeed  an  honor 
from  which  the  undeserving  should  be  and  are 
excluded ! 


THE  ENGINEEKING  COMPETITIONS 

"All  well  and  ready  for  anything."  This  was 
the  message  received  by  the  Navy  Department  in 
the  spring  of  1911  from  the  battleship  Delaware, 
upon  the  latter 's  return  from  her  26,000-mile 
voyage  to  Europe  and  South  America.  Thirteen 
years  before  the  Oregon  thrilled  the  nation  by 
her  wonderful  cruise  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Spanish-American  War.  But,  though  the  Dela- 
ware's voyage  was  not  made  under  such  circum- 
stances as  that  of  the  Oregon,  her  remarkable 
performance  and  the  conditions  attending  her 
work  aroused  the  same  sort  of  pride  in  the 
achievement  of  the  ship  and  of  her  men  that 
greeted  the  latter 's  record-making  and  record- 
breaking  trip.  The  Oregon  had  found  a  worthy 
successor  in  the  Delaware. 

Figures,  to  some  people,  mean  very  little.  But 
these  spell  the  history  of  days,  months,  and  years 
of  watchfulness  and  care.  The  modern  Dread- 
nought is  truly  one  great  fighting  machine,  in 
which  the  man  behind  the  gun  may  reign 
supreme;  yet  below  her  protective  deck,  in  the 
engine-rooms  and  fire-rooms,  are  skillful  toilers 
whose  share  also  contributes  to  the  full  measure 


78  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

of  duty  towards  making  her  the  efficient  weapon 
she  eventually  is.  See  the  ships  steaming  along 
in  perfect  line,  each  vessel  just  so  far  from  the 
flagship,  as  though  they  were  being  drawn  by  a 
single  cable.  These  floating  fortresses  are  each 
weights  of  twenty  thousand  tons,  yet  they  swing 
along  with  greater  ease  than  a  child's  toy  train 
and  manoeuvre  with  the  precision  of  parading 
infantry.  Would  this  be  possible  without  the  man 
at  the  furnace  and  his  partner  in  the  engine- 
room1? 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  the  visitor  upon 
going  over  a  modern  ship-of-war  is,  without 
question,  her  tremendous  complication  of  machin- 
ery. She  is  a  web  of  steam  pipes,  hydraulic 
tubes,  compressed  air  conductors,  electric  wires, 
telephones,  voice  tubes,  and  engines  of  every  sort 
to  the  number  of  almost  a  hundred.  Down  at  the 
bottom  of  the  perpendicular  iron  ladders,  shel- 
tered by  the  armored  bars  of  the  protective  deck, 
is  the  great,  clean,  almost  silent  engine-room.1 
The  reek  of  hot  oil  rises  in  noxious  whiffs  from 
the  swift-running  turbine,  its  drums  showing 
no  movement  without,  but  within  whirring  the 
"rotor"  at  enormous  speed.  Over  this  " little 
world,"  attended  to  by  almost  one-third  of  the 
ship's  company,  rules  the  Chief  Engineer  with 

i  One  would,  however,  hardly  recognize  the  massive,  laboring, 
reciprocating  engine  in  this  description. 


COALING  SHIP 


THE  ENGINEERING  COMPETITIONS        79 

his  assistants,  and  under  their  guidance  toil  the 
various  grades  of  artificers  who  drive  not  only 
the  turbine  engines  which  propel  the  ship  at  over 
twenty  miles  an  hour,  but  the  scores  of  minor 
clattering  intricate  machines  that  supply  the 
electric  current,  keep  cool  the  magazines,  work 
the  steering  gear,  turn  winches  and  capstans, 
ventilate  the  ship,  supply  fresh  water,  and  per- 
form a  dozen  other  necessary  jobs,  while  about 
the  decks  are  scattered  the  various  repair- 
shops — the  copper  shop,  the  machine-tool  shop, 
the  blacksmith  shop,  the  foundry,  the  pattern 
shop,  and  the  boilermaker 's  shop.  What  other 
structure  today  contains  such  a  complexity  of 
mobile  power,  so  great  a  variety  of  mechanism!2 

2  But  while  the  mass  of  the  machinery  is  impressive,  few  of 
the  people  who  make  even  cursory  inspections  of  a  man-o '-war's 
engine-rooms  have  any  idea  of  the  details  to  be  mastered,  and 
the  work  accomplished,  in  maintaining  the  tremendous  power- 
plant  installed  on  a  modern  Dreadnought.  They  have  no  con- 
ception of  the  devotion  to  duty  which  is  necessary  on  the  part 
of  each  individual  working  in  his  own  sometimes  obscure,  uncom- 
fortable, and  frequently  dangerous  corner,  with  the  full  knowl- 
edge that  he  must  do  his  part  to  the  end,  out  of  the  sight  of 
man,  and  without  the  recognition  which  those  who  work  in  the 
daylight  above  him  may  receive.  The  toll  of  death  due  to  casual- 
ties in  engine-  and  fire-rooms  far  exceeds  that  in  the  turrets  and 
magazines,  yet  there  has  been  no  shrinking,  and  no  holding  back. 
There  is  no  class  of  men  on  board  a  ship  with  a  higher  sense  of 
duty,  better  discipline  or  traditions,  or  who  are  more  apt  to 
acquit  themselves  with  credit  in  time  of  stress  than  the  members 
of  the  engineer's  division.  Their  duties  are  of  equal,  if  not 
greater,  importance  than  those  of  their  shipmates  who  fight  the 
guns.  It  is  as  necessary  for  a  ship  when  called  upon  for  battle 
to  reach  and  to  maintain  a  station  favorable  for  the  fighting  as 


80  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

The  modern  marine  engine  is  certainly  some- 
thing to  wonder  at.  So  perfectly  has  it  been 
developed,  that  today  it  may  be  said  to  have 
acquired  almost  human  intelligence.  Formerly 
machinery  seldom  did  what  was  expected  of  it; 
steam  was  wasted  and  not  utilized  to  its  full 
extent;  " economy"  never  was  possible.  But  in 
these  days  the  three-  and  four-cylinder  recipro- 
cating engines  are  capable  of  utilizing  the  pres- 
sure of  steam  to  the  utmost.  So  greatly  has  the 
expanding  power  of  steam  been  developed,  that, 
after  being  generated  in  the  compact  water-tube 
boilers,  it  is  capable  of  driving  not  only  the  piston 
of  the  small  high-pressure  cylinder,  but  those  of 
the  intermediate  and  low-pressure  cylinders  as 
well,  before  being  taken  back  into  the  condenser 
to  be  turned  into  water  again. 

The  days  of  the  reciprocating  engine,  however, 
seemed  numbered  when,  in  1894,  the  marine  tur- 
bine was  first  installed  on  shipboard.  No  one 
can  forget  the  tremendous  sensation  created  at 
the  British  naval  review  of  1897,  when  the  Tur- 
binia  dashed  about  at  a  speed  of  nearly  thirty- 
four  miles  an  hour.  No  such  performance  had 

it  is  for  accuracy  and  skill  in  gunnery  after  this  station  has 
been  reached.  The  men  below  cannot  hope  to  see,  or  to  know, 
what  is  taking  place  in  the  outer  world  in  the  final  and  supreme 
test  for  which  a  battleship  is  constructed.  Without  the  morale 
and  the  training  which  will  insure  a  proper  performance  on  the 
part  of  the,  at  times,  termed  "black  gang,"  success  on  the  day 
of  battle  will  become  impossible. 


THE  ENGINEERING  COMPETITIONS        81 

ever  been  possible  with  the  old,  throbbing, 
piston-worked  engine.  The  British  Admiralty 
immediately  appreciated  the  possibilities  of  the 
Parsons  invention,  and  the  British  Navy  before 
long  became  the  prond  possessor  of  two  torpedo- 
boat  destroyers  having  a  speed  of  thirty-six 
knots,  which,  not  many  months  later,  were  fol- 
lowed by  others  capable  of  maintaining  even 
greater  speed. 

In  its  most  elementary  form,  the  turbine  is  an 
astonishingly  simple  contrivance.  It  consists  of 
a  cylinder,  on  the  inside  of  which  are  fixed  series 
of  blades,  called  guide  blades.  On  the  shaft, 
which  runs  through  the  cylinder,  is  fixed  another 
series  of  blades,  called  rotor  blades,  projecting 
into  the  spaces  between  the  fixed  blades.  When 
steam  is  admitted  into  the  cylinder,  it  finds  itself 
retarded  by  a  ring  of  fixed  blades,  which  throw 
it  against  the  moving  blades  attached  to  the  shaft. 
The  high  pressure  exerted  by  the  steam  against 
these  starts  them  revolving,  and  this  in  turn 
causes  the  steam  to  be  deflected  on  to  the  next 
series  of  fixed  blades,  and  so  on  till  it  finally 
makes  its  escape  through  the  big  exhaust  pipe. 

In  the  face  of  the  almost  universal  adoption 
of  the  turbine  for  warship-propelling  machinery 
by  the  nations  of  the  world,  it  may  seem  strange 
that  the  United  States  should  have  preferred  the 
reciprocating  engine  for  its  larger  cruising 


82  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

vessels.  But  this  decision  was  not  arrived  at 
hastily,  or  without  due  investigation.  For  over 
a  year  the  comparative  merits  of  the  two  types 
of  machinery  were  the  sole  topic  of  discussion. 
But  no  final  judgment  was  possible  without 
actual  trial  under  all  service  conditions.  So  the 
Bureau  of  Steam  Engineering  determined  to  put 
the  burden  of  proof  upon  the  engines  themselves, 
and  the  result  was  the  exhaustive  tests  of  the 
new  Parsons  and  Curtis  turbines  as  well  as  of 
the  old  reciprocating  type  of  machinery  that 
followed  in  the  scout  cruisers,  Birmingham, 
Chester,  and  Salem,  and  in  the  battleships, 
Delaware  and  North  Dakota.  That  year  saw  the 
eyes  of  the  engineering  world  centered  upon  the 
American  Navy.  Every  possible  demand  was 
made  upon  the  machinery  of  each  of  these  vessels, 
and  in  the  case  of  the  Delaware  the  reciprocating 
engine  was  subjected  to  an  even  greater  test  of 
reliability  by  a  surprise  full-power  run  of  twenty- 
four  hours  immediately  following  her  return 
from  her  extended  South  American  cruise,  when 
she  had  been  in  port  but  twenty-two  and  a  half 
hours  for  the  purpose  of  refilling  her  bunkers. 
With  the  varied  experience  of  all  those  disinter- 
ested and  most  exhaustive  investigations,  the 
Navy  Department  had  data,  not  available  to  any 
foreign  government,  upon  which  to  base  its  final 
decision. 


THE  ENGINEERING  COMPETITIONS        83 

The  turbine,  without  question,  possessed  many 
advantages  over  the  old  type  of  machinery.  It 
rendered  possible  a  higher  speed  of  propulsion, 
and,  by  the  absence  of  reciprocating  parts,  did 
away  with  practically  all  vibration.  For  the 
smaller  high-speed  vessels,  such  as  torpedo-boats 
and  destroyers,  the  turbine  proved  a  godsend, 
because  it  not  only  greatly  extended  the  speed 
at  which  they  could  be  continuously  driven,  but, 
in  addition,  increased  the  safety  with  which  this 
might  be  done.  In  the  case  of  the  larger  ships, 
however,  the  turbine  fell  greatly  below  expecta- 
tions. At  cruising  speed,  the  old  reciprocating 
engine  was  about  thirty  per  cent  more  economical 
than  the  turbine,  while  at  high  speed  their  per- 
formances were  about  equal.  But  the  turbine's 
one  great  disadvantage  lay  in  the  fact  that  it 
would  not  reverse,  so  that,  to  run  the  propellers 
backwards,  for  backing  the  ships,  additional  tur- 
bines in  an  opposite  direction  would  have  had  to 
be  installed. 

Whether  these  experiments  would  have  aroused 
so  general  an  interest  before  the  days  of  the 
present  engineering  competitions  can  only  be  con- 
jectured. Previous  to  the  year  1906,  the  upkeep 
of  machinery,  while  receiving  considerable  atten- 
tion, had  not  yet  felt  the  influence  of  the  system- 
atic methods  of  operation  that  now  are  the  rule. 
The  organization  of  the  engineering  departments 


84  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

on  board  our  vessels-of-war  was  good,  and  all 
known  contingencies  were  well  provided  against. 
But  there  did  not  exist  the  desire  on  the  part 
of  the  engine-room  personnel  to  run  the  ships  at 
full  power  in  order  to  demonstrate  that  all  the 
details  required  for  a  successful  outcome  had 
been  carefully  attended  to.  And  such  a  desire 
was  not  encouraged,  for  the  importance  of  engi- 
neering as  affecting  battle  efficiency  was  either 
not  understood  or  neglected.  Certain  engineer 
officers  did  pay  the  strictest  attention  to  the  pre- 
vention of  waste  of  fuel  and  oil,  kept  the  joints 
tight,  and  the  engines  carefully  aligned.  But 
these  efforts  were  individual;  there  was  no 
encouragement,  no  incentive  other  than  pride. 

Then  came  the  moment  when  gunnery  received 
its  powerful  impetus.  So  astounding  were  the 
results  in  the  handling  and  firing  of  the  ships' 
guns,  that  the  application  of  similar  methods  to 
engineering  became  the  topic  of  discussion.  Why 
would  there  not  be  a  saving  in  coal  and  oil  if  the 
same  sort  of  attention  was  paid  to  firing  the 
boilers  as  was  now  paid  to  the  loading  and  point- 
ing of  guns?  Unofficial  ships'  competitions  in 
some  cases  contributed  to  save  coal  and  raise  the 
standard  of  efficiency  of  the  individual  units,  a 
step  in  the  right  direction  which  showed  what 
might  be  accomplished,  but  it  was  still  individual 
effort. 


M 

cn 

•< 
g 

a 

H 
X 


THE  ENGINEERING  COMPETITIONS        85 

The  suggestion  for  the  establishment  of  tests 
and  trials  and  the  placing  of  the  engineering 
personnel  on  a  competitive  basis  was  duly  made 
to  the  Navy  Department  under  date,  August  22, 
1906.  No  better  moment  could  have  been  selected 
for  the  filing  of  this  recommendation,  for  a  squad- 
ron of  armored  cruisers,  sister-ships,  were  under 
orders  to  make  a  voyage  to  the  Asiatic  Station, 
via  the  Suez  Canal,  a  passage  of  13,000  miles. 
A  splendid  opportunity  was  at  hand  for  really 
studying  the  problem  of  the  care  and  manage- 
ment of  machinery,  and  giving  proper  attention 
to  the  many  matters,  such  as  gas  analysis,  coal 
analysis,  proper  cut-off,  tightness  of  main  engine 
valves  and  piston,  use  of  half -burned  ashes,  etc., 
that  up  to  that  time  had  not  been  sufficiently  con- 
sidered. But  the  matter  was  overlooked,  and  the 
scheme  never  put  into  effect. 

When,  in  December,  1907,  the  Atlantic  Fleet 
started  on  its  voyage  around  South  America, 
there  were  plenty  of  skeptics  who  prophesied  that 
it  would  never  reach  the  coast  of  California 
intact.  Never  before  in  its  history  had  the  navy 
been  called  upon  to  perform  such  an  engineering 
feat.  Never  before  had  the  ships  comprising  the 
fleet  cruised  such  distances  in  company  or  in  fleet 
formation.  The  long  runs,  the  repairs  that  would 
necessarily  have  to  be  made  on  shipboard,  and 
the  necessary  coal  economy  that  would  have  to 


86  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

be  practiced,  made  it  look  as  if  the  chances  were 
all  against  the  entire  sixteen  battleships  arriving 
at  the  same  time.  The  voyage  was  to  be  the 
greatest  test  ever  imposed  upon  the  fleet  of  any 
nation. 

By  January,  1908,  the  ships  had  reached  the 
coast  of  South  America  without  mishap,  but  with 
the  knowledge  from  experience  of  how  much 
would  be  gained  from  a  systematic  consideration 
of  the  problem  of  cruising  efficiency.  Rear 
Admiral  Evans,  therefore,  signalized  the  success 
that  had  crowned  the  efforts  of  the  fleet 's 
engineer-force  thus  far,  by  issuing  a  general 
order  instituting  an  engineering  competition  for 
the  battleships  and  a  separate  one  for  the  destroy- 
ers. For,  since  the  efficiency  of  any  vessel  in 
battle  is  based  not  only  upon  the  performance  of 
her  battery,  but  also,  to  a  very  large  extent,  upon 
that  of  her  engines  and  their  appurtenances, 
every  effort  should  be  made  to  develop  maximum 
speed  under  both  forced  draft  and  natural  draft, 
with  economy  of  coal  and  oil,  as  well  as  to 
economize  under  ordinary  cruising  conditions. 
Breakdowns  in  formation  were  to  be  penalized, 
while  in  the  case  of  the  destroyers,  torching  at 
night,  while  running  at  high  speed,  was  forbidden. 
The  competition  ended  at  Magdalena  Bay.  The 
distance  covered  was  8,210.5  miles,  but  the  interest 
and  zeal  of  the  personnel,  both  officers  and  men, 


THE  ENGINEERING  COMPETITIONS        87 

in  trying  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  fleet  in 
"economy"  had  been  such  that  a  total  saving 
of  1,460  tons  of  coal  had  been  realized. 

On  June  28, 1908,  at  San  Francisco,  the  compe- 
tition was  resumed.  The  factors  remained  the 
same,  but  an  additional  clause  was  inserted  in 
the  rules  encouraging  economy  in  lubricating  oil. 
In  the  Sea  of  Japan  unusually  heavy  weather  was 
encountered,  and  the  vessels'  bottoms  were  foul- 
ing rapidly,  yet  on  the  long  run  from  Honolulu 
to  Auckland  the  saving  of  fuel  was  so  marked 
that  the  commander-in-chief  cabled  to  the  Navy 
Department  in  Washington  to  reduce  the 
estimates  for  the  amount  of  coal  necessary  at 
Colombo  and  Negro  Bay  from  forty-seven  to 
thirty-nine  thousand  tons,  those  "revised  esti- 
mates rendered  necessary  by  decreasing  con- 
sumption shown  since  leaving  San  Francisco." 

What  would  have  been  the  outcome  of  the 
voyage  around  the  world  had  there  been  no  com- 
petition cannot  be  conjectured.  It  was  freely 
predicted,  before  the  fleet  sailed  from  Hampton 
Koads,  that  a  trail  of  broken-down  battleships 
would  mark  the  course  from  Old  Point  Comfort 
to  the  Golden  Gate.  No  such  humiliating  spec- 
tacle, however,  fulfilled  the  prophecies  of  the 
volunteer  soothsayers.  Not  only  was  the  cruise 
to  San  Francisco  successfully  completed,  but  the 
voyage  was  continued  around  the  globe,  so  that 


88  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

by  the  time  the  fleet  returned  to  Hampton  Roads 
it  had  actually  made  three  times  the  mileage  that 
was  involved  in  the  passage  around  the  southern 
continent,  and  it  had,  besides,  adhered,  almost 
without  a  break,  to  a  schedule  of  dates  of 
departure  and  arrival. 

Instructive  as  the  results  of  the  competitions 
were,  the  saving  of  fuel  and  oil  was  as  nothing 
compared  with  the  experience  gained  in  develop- 
ing the  resources  of  the  ships  themselves.  The 
very  character  of  the  voyage  tended  to  force 
them  to  be  self-supporting,  to  maintain  in  every 
degree  their  efficiency.  Minor  repairs  were 
quickly  made,  and  everything  kept  "  shipshape. " 
The  voyage  around  South  America  passed 
uneventfully,  except  for  the  enthusiastic  recep- 
tions received  at  every  port.  Then  followed 
the  passage  across  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  the 
visits  to  the  Philippines,  Japan,  Australia,  and 
Colombo,  after  which  there  would  be  no  port  of 
call  until  Suez  was  reached.  At  this  very  moment 
the  unexpected  happened.  The  starboard  main 
high-pressure  cylinder  of  the  Kansas  was  found 
to  be  in  bad  condition.  Eepairs  were  imperative, 
but  the  ship  was  scheduled  to  leave  Colombo  in 
three  days.  The  fleet  had  remained  intact  for 
one  year,  every  run  had  been  made  on  schedule 
time,  and  any  failure  in  this  fine  record  now 
would  have  been  a  keen  disappointment  to  the 


THE  ENGINEERING  COMPETITIONS        89 

country  as  well  as  to  every  officer  and  man. 
While  a  new  cylinder  could  not  be  made,  it  was 
possible,  with  the  facilities  on  board,  to  rebore 
the  old  one.  This  is  what  actually  was  done  on 
board  the  battleship  during  the  passage  from 
Colombo  to  Suez.  The  starboard  engine  was 
compounded,  the  Kansas  left  with  the  other  ships 
on  schedule  time,  and  never  once  failed  to  main- 
tain her  position  in  the  fleet,  which  continued  the 
voyage  at  standard  cruising  speed  as  if  nothing 
had  happened. 

The  experiment  had  been  even  more  successful 
than  its  advocates  had  anticipated.  From  that 
date  the  Engineering  Competitions  were  officially 
established  by  the  Navy  Department.  The  draw- 
ing up  of  rules,  the  computing  of  standings,  and 
the  publishing  of  results  were  entrusted  to 
the  Director  of  Target-Practice.  The  two  great 
factors  of  battle  efficiency,  gunnery  and  engi- 
neering, had  at  last  become  identified  with  each 
other. 

Every  year  a  regular  schedule  of  engineering 
work  is  mapped  out  for  each  vessel  in  the  fleet. 
No  matter  where  the  ships  may  be,  that  work  has 
to  be  done,  and  upon  the  way  in  which  it  is  done 
depends  their  final  figure  of  merit  in  the  year's 
competition.  The  necessity  of  holding  steaming 
trials  so  frequently  cannot  be  understood  by  the 
non-navy  man.  His  sole  experience  is  with 


90  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

merchant  craft,  "liners,"  and  tramps,  which,  once 
clear  of  the  land,  open  wide  the  throttle,  strike 
their  pace,  and  then  hold  it  to  the  end  of  the 
voyage.  But  with  their  sister,  the  ship-of-war, 
the  requirements  are  entirely  different.  Her 
cruising  is  seldom  done  alone.  Most  of  the  time 
she  forms  part  of  a  squadron  or  fleet,  and  this 
means  that  she  has  her  designated  place  in  the 
column.  To  the  merchant  skipper  it  may  not 
mean  much  whether  his  ship  moves  through  the 
water  a  little  faster  than  her  sister-liner,  or 
whether  both  her  propellers  do  the  same  amount 
of  work.  But  to  the  battleship  in  the  line  of 
battle  it  means  whether  she  keeps  her  ram  within 
250  yards  of  the  stern  of  the  ship  next  ahead  and 
whether  she  is  maintaining  the  rate  of  speed 
signalled  by  the  flagship  for  that  moment. 
Then  is  the  time  that  the  results  of  her  latest 
standardization  trials  need  to  be  known. 

In  one  other  particular  also  has  the  battleship 's 
engineering  force  a  more  onerous  duty.  The 
merchant  vessel  never  varies  the  speed  at  which 
she  hastens  across  the  seas.  With  her  it  is  full 
speed  from  port  to  port.  But  the  ship-of-war 
is  allowed  no  such  indulgence.  She  has  always 
to  be  ready  to  obey  the  will  of  the  admiral  on  the 
flagship,  and  at  his  bidding  change  her  gait,  and 
at  a  moment's  notice  make  a  spurt  or  drop  several 
knots,  as  the  occasion  demands.  What  merchant 


THK  BATTLESHIP  WYOMING'S  FORWARD  TURRETS 


THE  ENGINEERING  COMPETITIONS        91 

vessel  now  on  the  high  seas  could  weather  such 
a  test? 

The  battleships  and  armored  cruisers,  destroy- 
ers, and  submarines  now  compete  annually  for 
the  handsome  trophies  awarded  by  the  Navy 
Department  for  superiority  in  the  different 
classes.  The  deserving  members  of  the  engi- 
neer's force  of  the  trophy-winning  ship  wear, 
throughout  the  year,  a  red  "E"  on  the  sleeve, 
and  the  ship  herself  is  distinguished  by  a  red 
block  letter  '  *  E  "  painted  on  her  after  smoke  pipe. 
In  addition,  the  vessel  having  the  highest  com- 
bined final  merit  for  both  gunnery  and  engineer- 
ing is  awarded  the  battle  efficiency  pennant,  the 
greatest  distinction  that  any  vessel  can  receive. 

For  the  year  1909-1910,  the  Nebraska  was 
declared  the  winner  in  the  battleship  class, 
and  the  Preble  the  leader  of  the  destroyers. 
The  year  following,  the  armored  cruiser  North 
Carolina  had  the  privilege  of  wearing  the  "E" 
on  her  after  smoke  pipe,  while  the  Preble  again 
led  her  swift-steaming  consorts.  In  that  period, 
a  new  phase  in  the  competitions  was  instituted 
by  the  inclusion  of  the  submarines  among  the 
classes  eligible  for  awards,  and  the  result  was 
an  unheard-of  amount  of  surface,  submerged,  and 
awash  work.  That  year  the  Moccasin  won  the 
trophy  of  this  novel  and  interesting  competition, 
while  in  1911-1912  the  D-3  carried  off  the  highest 


92  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

honors.  For  1911-1912  in  the  battleship  class  the 
armored  cruiser  Maryland  earned  the  right  of 
carrying  the  trophy,  and,  finally,  for  the  year  just 
completed,  1912-1913,  the  following  stood  at  the 
head  of  their  respective  classes:  the  battleship 
Utah,  the  destroyer  Burrows,  and  the  submarine 
D-3.  To  the  commanding  officer  of  each  of  these 
vessels  the  Secretary  of  the'  Navy  addressed  a 
congratulatory  letter,  while  to  the  battle  efficiency 
winner,  the  Idaho,  in  1912-1913,  went  a  commen- 
datory letter  from  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  a  copy  of  which  was  placed  on  the  record 
not  only  of  her  captain,  but  of  such  of  her  officers 
as  were  directly  responsible  for  making  her, 
"with  the  material  at  her  disposal,  the  most 
efficient  battleship  in  guarding  the  country's 
interests. ' ' 

It  is  the  belief  of  naval  officers  that,  in  manage- 
ment and  operation,  the  navy  is  at  present  in  a 
very  efficient  condition,  and  the  best  sign  of  this 
healthy  condition  is  that  it  is  still  making  pro- 
gress. The  great  increase  in  efficiency  that 
followed  so  quickly  upon  the  introduction  of 
scientific  methods  of  management  has  since  been 
followed  by  such  further  and  continued  improve- 
ment, that  a  most  encouraging  condition  has  now 
been  reached.  The  Navy  Department's  appre- 
ciation of  the  part  that  engineering  plays  in  naval 
efficiency  was  a  step  in  the  right  direction. 


u 


THE  ENGINEERING  COMPETITIONS        93 

Encouragement  and  recognition  of  individual 
effort  were  what  were  then  most  needed,  and,  with 
these  as  incentives,  so  interested  an  attention  to 
duty  has  since  that  moment  been  secured,  that 
more  miles  are  today  steamed  for  a  given  expen- 
diture of  coal,  oil,  and  supplies,  than  at  any 
former  time;  ship-repair  bills  are  showing  a 
steady  decrease ;  the  ships  are  better  handled  each 
succeeding  period ;  the  vessels  are  kept  in  repair 
and  spend  less  time  at  the  navy  yards  than  they 
formerly  did,  and  are  able  to  develop  higher 
sustained  speeds  than  ever  before;  and  the 
personnel  in  the  fleet,  both  officers  and  men,  is 
today  pulling  together  to  secure  not  only  efficiency 
but  also  economy. 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  NAVY 

"In  all  occupations  that  require  an  expenditure 
of  physical  effort,  bodily  vigor  is  of  particular 
importance.  It  is  with  this  object  in  view,  that 
officers  (and  men)  should  be  encouraged  to 
engage  in  athletic  sports  which  preserve  the  vigor 
of  the  body.  Other  countries  (except  France) 
are  not  satisfied  with  merely  favoring  athletics; 
they  almost  impose  them  through  the  opportu- 
nities they  give  to  practice  them  and  by  their 
systems  of  education.  Though  athletic  sports 
cannot  be  a  substitute  for  war,  they  nevertheless 
develop  certain  qualities  essential  in  its  conduct. 
In  every  game,  there  is  competition;  there  is  a 
victor  and  a  vanquished.  To  carry  off  the  honors, 
the  mind  as  well  as  the  body  must  be  made  to 
work.  As  in  war,  one  is  continually  striving  for 
superiority  by  a  gradual  increase  in  the  expendi- 
ture of  energy.  It  is  easy  to  speak  of  courage, 
decision,  and  initiative.  But  these  qualities  are 
not  found  in  the  shop :  they  grow  like  mushrooms 
in  suitable  soil.  Action  is  what  develops  them. ' n 

Such  is  the  problem  that  today  confronts  the 

i  Daveluy :  L  'Esprit  de  la  Guerre  Navale,  Vol.  3,  p.  16. 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  NAVY  95 

naval  administrator  and  the  naval  officer.  In 
the  age  of  the  sailing  frigate,  the  day  of  the 
"heave  and  haul,"  there  was  little  difficulty  in 
keeping  the  crews  in  condition  through  exercise. 
No  captain  bothered  his  head  about  so  trifling  a 
matter.  There  was  no  need  of  it.  Smartness 
aloft  was  the  one  essential  aboard  a  man-o'-war, 
the  one  thing  upon  which  depended  the  honor  of 
the  ship.  Yet  this  very  "smartness"  in  making 
and  taking  in  sail,  and  in  crossing  and  sending 
down  yards,  about  which  the  frigate  captain  cared 
so  much,  unconsciously  furnished  the  exercise  so 
necessary  to  the  well-being  of  his  men.  In  fact, 
he  often  exacted  a  greater  expenditure  of  physical 
effort  than  they  well  could  furnish.  The  topmen 
had  to  be  smart,  and  more  than  smart.  They  had 
to  fly  up  aloft  at  the  order,  lay  out  on  the  yard, 
reef  or  furl,  lay  in,  and  be  down  on  deck  again, 
before  the  boatswain's  mate  could  draw  his 
"colt."  It  was  "mast  against  mast,"  with  the 
men  actually  running  aloft  and  along  the  yards 
in  their  efforts  to  be  first. 

But  today  there  is  no  such  thing  as  making  or 
taking  in  sail.  The  topman  no  longer  exists  on 
shipboard.  Instead  we  have  the  mechanic,  the 
gun-captain,  the  artificer,  the  engineer,  all  of 
whom  work  entirely  below  decks.  The  engine- 
room,  the  machine  shop,  the  steel-walled  turret, 
the  gun-mount,  and  breech  mechanism  are  where 


96  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

their  energies  are  centered.  But  what  exercise 
do  they  get  from  their  occupations  on  board  ship 
now?  Physique  and  morale  suffer  from  the  want 
of  real  physical  effort.  It  is  to  counteract  this 
unfortunate  condition  of  modern  shipboard  life 
that  artificial  means  have  been  resorted  to.  Set- 
ting up  exercises,  in  a  way,  fulfill  their  purpose 
of  causing  "every  man  on  board  ship  really  to 
exert  all  his  muscles  daily"  and  of  providing 
"exercise."  But  alone,  they  have  never  sufficed 
to  keep  the  men  in  the  best  possible  physical 
condition.  Something  additional  is  needed ;  some- 
thing with  a  mental  as  well  as  physical  effect. 
There  is  but  one  answer  to  the  question :  athletics. 
This  discovery,  however,  cannot  be  claimed  for 
the  steam  navy  of  the  present.  It  was  made  long 
ago,  in  the  days  of  the  sailing  line-of -battleships, 
when  sports,  as  now,  were  essential  to  the  tars' 
contentment  on  shipboard.  No  two  ships  could 
be  in  company  without  some  question  of  supe- 
riority arising,  and  few  were  the  officers  who 
denied  their  crews  the  excitement  of  a  boat  race 
or  boxing  bout.  But,  until  recently,  there  was  no 
encouragement  given  to  athletics.  Whatever  was 
accomplished  was  due  to  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
few  individuals  who  appreciated  its  importance. 
There  was  no  systematic  effort  to  extend  the 
bearing  of  sports  upon  the  physique  and  morale 
of  the  entire  crew.  Only  in  1900  was  official 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  NAVY  97 

cognizance  taken  of  the  matter  by  the  Navy 
Department  in  Washington.  Up  to  that  time  the 
Navy  Regulations  had  merely  instructed  the 
captains  of  the  ships-of-war  to  "use  all  proper 
means  to  preserve  the  health"  of  their  crews. 
But  in  that  year  an  additional  clause  was  inserted, 
whereby  the  commanding  officers  were  specifi- 
cally urged  to  "encourage  the  men  to  engage  in 
athletics,  fencing,  boxing,  boating,  and  other 
similar  sports  and  exercises." 

The  part  that  our  naval  station  at  Guantanamo 
Bay  has  played  in  the  successful  organization  of 
athletics  in  the  navy  has  been  most  important. 
The  advantages  of  the  place  led  the  service  to  an 
unconscious  solution  of  the  great  problem.  No 
more  ideal  stretch  for  boat  racing  could  have 
been  selected  than  the  beautiful  waters  of  the 
outer  bay;  the  extensive  sun-baked  tidal-plain 
behind  Deer  Point  and  on  Hicacal  Beach  seemed 
destined  by  nature  for  baseball  diamonds  and 
running  tracks;  while  the  mild  climate  of  the 
winter  months  could  not  have  been  better  for 
outdoor  work  such  as  the  navy  men  are  always 
called  upon  to  do.  The  matter  was  settled  when 
Guantanamo  Bay  was  selected  as  the  base  for  the 
battle-fleet's  winter  work;  it  became  the  play- 
ground of  the  bluejacket  athlete  from  January  to 
April,  those  months  when  baseball,  rowing,  and 
all  other  outdoor  sports,  except  football,  are 


98  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

discouraged,  in  more  northern  latitudes,  by  snow 
and  ice. 

Organized  fleet  competitions  came  into  being 
from  that  moment.2  Under  the  enthusiastic 
encouragement  of  Bear  Admiral  Robley  D. 
Evans,  then  in  command  of  the  North  Atlantic 
Fleet,  athletic  committees  were  formed  on  every 
ship  under  his  orders.  Intership  sports  were 
arranged  and  at  every  opportunity  indulged  in. 
The  Department  lent  a  helping  hand  by  furnish- 
ing the  larger  vessels  with  standard  navy  racing 
cutters.  Pulling  races  became  the  talk  of  the 
fleet.  A  beginning  had  been  made.  Organized 
athletics  had  come  to  stay. 

"The  purpose  of  athletics  on  board  ship  is  to 
offer,  to  a  large  number  of  men,  healthful  exer- 
cise and  amusement.  The  commanding  officer 
shall  encourage  the  men  to  engage  in  athletics, 
....  (and)  when  the  weather  and  other  circum- 
stances permit,  he  shall  establish  in  the  routine 
of  exercises  and  drills  a  regular  period  for  swim- 
ming, such  exercise  to  include  every  enlisted 
person  on  board,  except  those  excused  by  the 
surgeon.  Whenever  circumstances  permit,  ath- 
letic parties  shall  accompany  teams  engaged  in 
match  games It  is  desirable  that  interest 

2  Guantanamo  Bay  was  formally  taken  possession  of  on 
December  10,  1903,  but  the  Atlantic  Fleet's  first  use  of  it  as  a 
base  for  mano2uvres  was  not  until  1905  and  1906. 


X 

0 

2C 

D 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  NAVY  99 

be  sustained  for  the  manly  sports  themselves  and 
the  just  pride  attaching  to  success  in  contests, 
and  that  the  vicious  element  of  betting  be 
restricted."  With  these  words,  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  United  States  Atlantic  Fleet,  in 
a  fleet  order  issued  July  1,  1913,  introduced  the 
new  edition  of  the  rules  governing  the  athletic 
competitions  of  the  officers  and  enlisted  men 
under  his  command.  Every  possible  sport  has 
its  trophies.  There  are  boat-pulling  races  for 
launches,  cutters,  whale-boats,  and  dinghies ;  sail- 
ing races,  "free  for  all,"  as  well  as  for  each  class 
of  boat;  boxing  and  wrestling  contests  for  all 
weights;  field  and  track  meets;  baseball  cham- 
pionships; football  games;  fencing  matches; 
basket  ball  championships;  swimming  races  and 
water  sports;  rifle  team  matches;  and  signal 
competitions — surely  a  variety  sufficient  to 
satisfy  the  tastes  of  every  one  of  the  twenty 
thousand  uniformed  candidates  and  spectators. 
That  every  attention  might  be  given  to  the 
proper  administration  of  these  sports,  a  Fleet 
Athletic  Board  was  established  in  1908  to  advise 
the  commander-in-chief  upon  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  athletics  in  the  fleet,  such  as  changes  in 
rules,  methods  of  determining  contests,  trophies, 
and  finances.  The  four  battleship  divisions,  the 
torpedo  flotilla,  and  the  fleet  auxiliaries  are  each 
represented  in  the  membership  of  the  board, 


100  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

whose  meetings  are  also  attended  by  the  captain 
of  the  flagship,  an  executive  officer,  and  the  Fleet 
Athletic  Officer,  who  is  a  member  of  the  Admiral's 
personal  staff.  Thus  the  interests  of  even  the 
smallest  vessel  of  that  great  assemblage  of  war 
craft  are  assured  every  consideration,  and  her 
chances  of  winning  a  championship  are  no  less 
than  those  of  her  big  sister,  the  battleship. 

Every  indulgence  is  allowed  the  men  in  these 
games,  races,  and  contests,  but  only  under  these 
conditions — that  there  shall  be  no  violation  of 
the  A.  A.  U.  rules  and  no  "umpire  baiting"  of 
any  sort.  In  just  one  athletic  league  in  this 
country  has  there  ever  been  real  discipline,  and 
that  is  in  the  organization  prompted  and  fostered 
by  the  United  States  Navy  Department  among 
the  sailors  of  the  country's  ships-of-war,  and  that 
discipline  is  not  arbitrary,  but  absolutely  mili- 
tary. The  umpires  in  all  games  are  officers,  who, 
in  their  Naval  Academy  days  were  heroes  of  the 
gridiron  and  diamond,  and  the  slightest  disre- 
spect evinced  towards  them  by  any  contestant 
is  cause  for  summary  arrest  and  transportation 
back  aboard  ship.  The  hot-headed  ballplayer  is 
not  fined  five  dollars  for  talking  back  to  an 
umpire,  as  in  a  professional  league,  and  benched 
only  for  that  game,  but  he  is  summarily  led  off 
the  grounds  and  in  addition  incurs  the  military 
punishment  for  disrespect  to  an  officer.  The 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  NAVY  101 

result  is  that  a  spirit  of  true  sportsmanship 
characterizes  each  and  every  competition.  The 
men  learn  self-control  and  manliness  in  a  school 
that  has  but  one  aim — true  sportsmanship — with 
the  result  that  there  are  few  breaches  of  disci- 
pline, and  very  few  disqualifications. 

Where  does  the  money  to  pay  for  all  the  out- 
fits of  these  countless  teams  and  crews  come 
from?  No  wonder  the  spectator  asks  the  question 
as  he  views  the  shores  of  Guantanamo  Bay  on 
a  Saturday  afternoon.  Thirty-four  teams  are 
hotly  contesting  every  "out"  on  the  seventeen 
diamonds  laid  out  on  the  target  range  and  back 
of  Hicacal  Beach.  Between  three  and  four  hun- 
dred baseball  gloves  are  being  worn,  a  hundred 
bats  used,  and  countless  balls  *  'fouled.'*  Who 
pays  for  all  this  "gear"?  The  twenty-five  hun- 
dred bluejackets  and  two  hundred  and  fifty 
officers  in  the  grand  stand  around  the  champion- 
ship field?  No.  No  price  of  admission  is  ever 
charged  to  a  naval  athletic  contest,  nor  are  the 
men  assessed  the  cost  of  the  bats,  balls,  and 
gloves.  A  certain  amount  is  annually  appro- 
priated by  the  Navy  Department  in  Washington 
for  defraying  the  expenses  of  "jack's"  outdoor 
recreations,  but  this  is  never  enough  to  satisfy 
the  demands  of  the  "fans,"  so  the  remainder  is 
made  up  from  the  profits  of  the  ship's  canteens, 
which  means  that  the  men  themselves  pay  for 


102  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

their  amusement  by  their  purchase  of  sweets, 
writing  paper,  tobacco,  and  other  luxuries  from 
the  " co-operative  stores"  on  board. 

Every  winter  about  the  month  of  March,  when 
the  grind  of  the  preparation  for  spring  target- 
practice  begins  to  tell,  a  week  of  sports  is  decreed. 
Sports,  sports,  nothing  but  sports — is  the  word 
that  flashes  from  signal  yard  to  signal  yard. 
From  that  moment,  every  officer  and  man  becomes 
as  enthusiastic  about  winning  cups  and  trophies 
as  he  is  before  and  after  to  get  the  highest 
score  in  the  "Hits-per-Gun-per-Minute"  contest. 
Afloat  and  ashore  "jack"  disports  himself.  An 
exhaustive  program  is  prepared  for  his  enter- 
tainment and  uninterrupted  pleasure.  It  is  his 
reward  for  the  months  of  faithful  work  just 
ended. 

Of  all  sports,  boat  racing  is  the  one  that  arouses 
the  greatest  interest.  It  is  the  never-ending 
theme  of  discussion  and  rivalry.  For  months  the 
ships  have  been  preparing  for  the  races.  Every 
afternoon  after  four  o'clock,  when  the  day's 
work  is  done,  and  on  the  regular  Saturday  after- 
noon half -holidays,  boats  of  every  sort  may  be 
seen  putting  off  from  the  ships'  sides.  Each 
candidate  gets  his  chance  to  pull  an  oar  under 
the  critical  direction  of  coxswains,  whose  sole 
ambition  becomes  to  develop  a  "winner." 
Whale-boats,  cutters,  and  the  rest  of  the  ships' 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  NAVY  103 

regular  boats  are  pressed  into  service.  The 
interest  is  intense,  for  on  the  collective  achieve- 
ments of  all  these  crews  during  the  week  depends 
whether  the  ship  wins  the  Boat-Pulling  Trophy. 

The  English  system  of  more  general  athletic 
participation,  rather  than  individual  excellence, 
has  gained  a  strong  hold  on  the  Navy.  No  man 
is  " forced  or  entreated"  to  take  part  in  any 
sport,  but  every  man  that  wishes  is  given  the 
opportunity  for  the  asking.  But,  love  as  he  may 
the  scrub  games,  the  bluejacket  of  our  "National 
University, ' '  like  his  fellow-student  of  the  college 
on  shore,  can  never  give  up  the  idea  of  the 
'Varsity,  and,  afloat  as  on  shore,  we  therefore 
have  the  picked  few  upon  whose  efforts  depends 
the  honor  of  the  ship.  In  the  pulling  races,  that 
responsibility  rests  with  the  race-boat  crew,  those 
well-developed  oarsmen,  twelve  in  number,  who, 
year  in  and  year  out,  keep  in  training  and  strive 
to  retain  their  places  in  the  boat  in  the  eager 
competition  of  the  aspiring  *  *  oars. ' '  Every  after- 
noon, under  the  vigorous  direction  of  their  cox- 
swain, they  leave  the  ship  for  an  hour's  pull 
round  the  fleet,  and  then  go  through  a  course  of 
gymnastic  exercises  that,  for  some  people,  would 
in  itself  constitute  a  hard  day's  work. 

The  true  test  of  those  hours  of  preparation  is 
now  at  hand.  The  race-boats  of  the  fleet,  repre- 
senting each  of  the  seventeen  battleships  present, 


104  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

are  lined  up  between  the  two  stake-boats  at  the 
wide  entrance  of  Guantanamo  Bay.  "Are  you 
ready?'*  Then  the  loud  report  of  the  one- 
pounder  in  the  bow  of  the  referee's  steam-launch. 
They  are  off.  It  is  a  test  of  real  oarsmanship, 
for  the  boats  are  precisely  the  same  as  to  size, 
equipment,  and  weight.  Like  all  navy  boat-races, 
it  is  a  "one  design"  class  race,  in  which  the  boats 
vary  only  in  the  small  features  that  the  boat- 
builders  themselves  cannot  control. 

The  present  contest  is  for  the  Battenberg  Cup, 
the  handsome  challenge  trophy  presented  to  the 
Atlantic  Fleet  in  1905  by  the  enlisted  men  of  the 
British  Second  Cruiser  Squadron,  commanded  by 
Eear  Admiral  H.  S.  H.  Prince  Louis  of  Batten- 
berg,  B.  N.,  "in  grateful  remembrance  of  the 
many  kindnesses,  tokens  of  good-fellowship  and 
wonderful  entertainments  that  were  given  to 
them,  in  cordial  friendship,  by  their  comrades 
across  the  sea." 

In  the  letter  forwarding  this  acceptable  token 
of  good  will,  the  request  was  made  that  the  trophy 
should  be  considered  a  perpetual  challenge  cup. 
Many  spirited  contests  have  been  held  for  it, 
since  it  was  first  raced  for  in  1906,  when  the 
honors  went  to  the  Illinois,  and  it  has  ever  been 
regarded  as  the  most  valuable  racing  trophy 
among  the  many  in  the  possession  of  the  Atlantic 
Fleet.  The  boats  used  are  the  standard  twelve- 


\ 


20 


-0 


V 


180' 


PACIFIC 


IIC 


Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Scientific  American 

CHART  SHOWING  THE  DISPOSITION  OF  THE  SHIPS 


In  the  Atlantic  Ocean  is  found  both  the  greatest  numerical  and  the  chief  military  strength  of  the 
navy.  Par  to  the  north,  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  but  not  shown  on  the  map,  is  the  naval  tug  Po- 
tomac, bound  on  an  errand  of  mercy,  to  rescue  the  crews  of  American  fishing  vessels,  but  herself 
caught  in  the  ice-floes.  At  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  a  cruiser  is  undergoing  repairs.  At  Boston  the  bat- 
tleship New  Jersey  is  being  overhauled,  the  armored  cruiser  North  Carolina  and  the  cruiser  Chicago 
are  in  reserve,  and  a  new  submarine  is  being  placed  in  commission.  At  Newport  are  four  old  tor- 
pedo boats  and  a  submarine  in  reserve  or  being  fitted  out. 

At  New  York  the  battleship  North  Dakota  is  repairing,  the  battleship  Arkansas  is  being  dry- 
docked,  the  armored  cruiser  Washington  is  acting  as  receiving  ship,  and  a  monitor  and  submarine 
are  preparing  for  sea. 

At  Philadelphia  are  stationed  the  battleships  and  cruisers  of  the  Atlantic  Reserve  Fleet,  a  repair 
ship,  a  scout  cruiser,  two  destroyers,  and  a  submarine. 

At  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis  are  five  torpedo  boats,  and  at  the  Washington  navy  yard 
are  two  converted  yachts,  while  at  Norfolk  are  the  battleship  Vermont  and  a  monitor.  The  battle- 
ship Michigan  is  at  sea,  off  Cape  Hatteras,  proceeding  south  to  join  the  ships  at  Guantanamo  Bay. 

Charleston,  S.  C.,  is  the  regular  base  of  the  torpedo  boats  and  destroyers  in  reserve,  but  only  five 
of  the  former  and  three  of  the  latter,  together  with  one  submarine,  were  there  on  February  12.  The 
others  were  on  the  coast  of  Florida  making  their  annual  two  months'  practice  cruise.  At  Key  West 
are  three  new  destroyers  engaged  in  "  shaking  down  "  trials  ;  in  Pensacola  Bay  the  battleship  Mis- 
sissippi is  being  used  for  experimental  aeronautic  work ;  while  at  New  Orleans  a  monitor  and  the 
second  submarine  group  are  engaged  in  their  annual  manoeuvres  and  exercises. 

Off  the  north  coast  of  Cuba  the  Prairie  and  Hancock-,  transports,  are  returning  with  two  regi- 
ments of  marines  from  a  month  of  "  advance  base  "  work  on  the  island  of  Culebra.  South  of  Cuba, 
at  Guantanamo  Bay  and  Guacanayabo  Bay,  are  all  the  ships  of  the  Atlantic  fleet — except  those  sta- 
tioned in  Mexican  waters— engaged  in  the  regular  winter  practice  work  of  fleet  and  division  drills. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY  ON  FEBRUARY  12,  1914 


On  the  east  coast  of  Mexico,  performing  an  obvious  duty,  are  seven  battleships,  two  cruisers, 
and  one  gunboat.  At  Cristobal,  the  Atlantic  end  of  the  Panama  Canal,  are  five  submarines  with 
their  "  mother  "  ship.  Off  the  coast  of  Honduras  an  auxiliary  is  engaged  in  hydrographic  surveying. 
And  finally  about  the  island  of  Haiti  are  a  battleship,  an  armored  cruiser,  two  cruisers  and  a  con- 
verted yacht,  keeping  the  unruly  element  in  restraint  and  maintaining  the  peace. 

In  the  Pacific  Ocean,  the  Asiatic  fleet  has  concentrated  its  main  force  in  the  Philippine  Islands, 
where  we  find  three  cruisers,  two  monitors,  a  gunboat,  five  destroyers,  six  submarines,  and  four  aux- 
iliaries. The  remainder  of  the  fleet,  seven  gunboats,  are  shown  maintaining  their  station  in  the 
Yangtse  river  in  China  and  near  Canton,  where  a  patrol  has  always,  of  necessity  been  kept. 

Moving  eastward  on  the  map,  our  next  vessel  is  seen  at  the  Island  of  Guam,  serving  as  station 
ship  for  the  island  government,  which  is  conducted  with  conspicuous  success  by  an  American  naval 
officer.  The  same  statement  can  be  made  of  our  other  navy-governed  possession  of  Tutuila,  or 
American  Samoa,  where  a  gunboat  is  maintained  as  station  ship. 

In  the  northern  Pacific  no  vessels  have  yet  been  stationed.  This  is,  however,  only  a  temporary 
condition  as  the  completion  of  the  Pearl  Harbor  naval  station  will  make  this  base  our  most  important 
strategically,  in  that  sea. 

On  our  own  shores,  we  find  the  Pacific  Reserve  Fleet  of  one  battleship,  the  Oregon,  eight  cruisers, 
two  submarines  and  five  auxiliaries  in  Puget  Sound.  At  San  Francisco  are  two  cruisers,  a  gunboat, 
four  submarines,  four  destroyers,  two  torpedo  boats  and  one  auxiliary.  Near  Santa  Barbara  and 
San  Diego  five  torpedo  boat  destroyers  with  a  parent  ship  are  engaged  in  various  exercises.  Two 
submarines  and  two  armored  cruisers  are  also  in  those  waters  holding  target  practice,  while  further 
south,  on  the  west  coast  of  Mexico,  are  an  armored  cruiser,  two  cruisers,  one  gunboat  and  an  auxili- 
ary, maintained  there  for  reasons  well  known.  Still  farther  south  the  cruiser  Denver  is  proceeding 
to  relieve  the  transport  Bitfalo  at  Corinto,  in  Nicaragua,  where  for  some  time  the  State  Department 
has  considered  the  presence  of  an  American  warship  desirable. 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  NAVY  105 

oared  Navy  racing  cutter,  and  the  length  of  the 
course,  three  miles  straight-away,  between  the 
lines  of  battleships  anchored  in  column  of  squad- 
rons. The  ship  of  the  winning  crew  becomes  the 
proud  holder  of  the  trophy  until  challenged  by 
another  ship  of  the  fleet,  when  she  must  defend 
her  title  against  the  challenger  and  any  other 
ships  that  may  wish  to  enter  the  race. 

In  drawing  up  the  rules  governing  the  races 
for  the  Battenberg  Cup,  a  clause  was  inserted  by 
the  American  admiral  that  any  British  vessel 
might  also  compete  for  the  trophy,  provided  she 
pulled  in  a  standard  American  Navy  racing  cutter 
loaned  to  her  by  one  of  the  United  States  vessels 
present,  and  that,  should  she  win,  her  name 
should  be  inserted  upon  the  cup.  During  the 
seven  years  in  which  the  trophy  has  been  com- 
peted for  thus  far,  only  one  British  ship,  the 
cruiser  Argyle,  by  her  victory  in  the  splendidly 
contested  race  in  Hampton  Roads  during  the 
Jamestown  Exposition  regatta,  has  won  the 
coveted  distinction,  and  hers  is  the  only  name 
so  inscribed,  though  other  English  vessels  have 
shown  their  sportsmanship  by  challenging  when- 
ever possible.  In  1908,  H.  B.  M.  S.  Powerful  and 
Challenger  made  gallant  efforts  in  Australian 
waters,  and,  in  the  year  following,  the  Drake 
succumbed,  only  after  a  gruelling  contest,  to  the 
superior  oarsmanship  of  the  Minnesota's  race- 


106  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

boat  crew,  which  in  turn  had  to  yield  the  palm  to 
the  Georgia  in  1910  and  1911,  to  the  Missouri  in 
1912,  and,  during  the  past  year,  to  the  Florida. 

But  the  Battenberg  Cup  race  is  only  one  of  a 
series  of  most  keenly  contested  competitions  held 
each  winter,  spring,  and  summer,  at  Guantanamo 
Bay  and  in  Narragansett  Bay,  for  the  battleship, 
destroyer,  and  auxiliary  trophies.  All  these  con- 
tests are  strict  "one  design"  races,  limited  to 
certain  classes  of  boats,  and  sometimes  restricted 
even  in  the  composition  of  their  crews.  The 
Battenberg  and  Coffin  trophies  must  be  rowed 
for  over  a  three-mile  straight-away  course  in 
twelve-oared  navy  racing  cutters  pulled  by  the 
regular  race-boat  crews;  the  Jamestown  Cup, 
presented  in  1907,  by  the  Board  of  Governors  of 
the  Jamestown  Exposition,  is  for  racing  cutters 
manned  by  commissioned  officers  of  the  Navy 
and  Marine  Corps;  the  Belmont  Cup,  originally 
donated  in  1897  as  an  apprentice  challenge  cup, 
is  likewise  to  be  competed  for  in  racing  cutters, 
but  their  personnel  is  limited  to  men  of  the  deck 
force  of  first  enlistment.  Then  there  is  the 
Drexel  Challenge  Cup,  raced  for  since  1905,  by 
the  enlisted  men  of  the  battleships'  engineer 
forces;  the  San  Pedro  Cup,  presented  by  the 
citizens  of  San  Pedro  in  1908,  for  sailing-launches 
under  oars;  the  Narragansett  Bay  Cup  for 
standard  navy  racing  cutters  not  manned  by 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  NAVY  107 

race-boat  men;  the  Dunlap  Challenge  Cup  for 
Marines;  the  Havana  Cup,  presented  by  the 
United  States  Club  of  that  city  in  1899,  as  a 
trophy  for  gigs,  but  now  raced  for  in  whale-boats ; 
the  Duncan  Cup  for  scratch  crews  in  regulation 
dinghies;  and  finally,  the  Pensacola  Challenge 
Cup,  which  is  won  on  the  greatest  number 
of  points  made  in  races  for  twelve-oared 
cutters,  double-  and  single-banked  whale-boats, 
and  dinghies. 

There  are  cups  for  sailing  races  also — races  in 
sailing-launches  for  the  Colonial  Dames  Chal- 
lenge Cup,  races  in  whale-boats  for  the  Neeser 
Trophy,  contests  for  cutters  and  dinghies,  and, 
during  the  winter  and  summer  regattas,  for  the 
Department  Sailing  Trophy.  The  greatest 
interest  prevails  when  these  tests  of  seamanship 
are  held,  but  none,  perhaps,  appeals  to  the 
men  as  much  as  the  "free-for-all"  race  that 
bi-annually  rouses  every  officer  and  man  in  compe- 
tition for  the  Thompson  Trophy.  For  in  this 
contest  any  boat  carried  by  any  vessel  of  the 
fleet,  propelled  only  by  sail  power,  may  be 
entered.  No  restrictions  of  any  kind  are 
imposed;  any  amount  or  kind  of  sail,  false  keel, 
additional  rigging,  bowsprit,  jibboom,  or  spar, 
may  be  used,  and  the  originality  displayed  in  this 
contest  may  be  said  to  be  rivalled  only  by  that 
in  the  one-mile  pulling  race  in  sailing-launches, 


108  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

where  unlimited  crews  are  allowed.  In  this  latter 
event,  last  summer  (1913),  one  ship,  taking 
advantage  of  this  leniency  in  the  rules,  not  only 
crowded  every  available  oarsman  on  the  thwarts, 
but  in  addition  massed  the  ship's  band  in  the 
stern  sheets.  The  minute  the  starting  gun  was 
fired,  every  oar  caught  the  water,  and  the  band 
struck  up  the  stirring  air  of  "Marching  to 
Victory. ' ' 

While  the  boat  racing  is  generally  conceded 
to  be  "jack's"  favorite,  and  the  Navy's  time- 
honored  sport,  the  question  of  second  choice  can 
really  not  be  as  satisfactorily  settled.  The 
winner  of  the  Fleet  Championship  Boxing  Belt 
in  any  of  the  classes  of  bouts  held  on  board  ships 
of  the  Atlantic  Fleet  is  no  mean  personage  in  the 
eye  of  the  thousands  who  witness  the  sixty  or 
eighty  boxers  entered  in  the  annual  tournaments 
that  form  so  great  a  feature  of  the  smokers  given 
by  the  various  entertainment  committees  of  the 
several  battleships.  The  rules  governing  these 
contests  are  most  carefully  laid  down  and  as 
strictly  enforced.  There  are  seven  classes  of 
bouts,  from  bantamweight  to  heavyweight;  six- 
ounce  gloves  must  be  used  in  all  contests;  the 
rules  of  the  A.  A.  U.  govern,  except  where  they 
conflict  with  the  fleet  athletic  regulations;  for 
every  bout  there  must  be  two  judges  and  one 
referee ;  no  man  may  enter  the  ring  until  he  shall 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  NAVY  109 

have  been  examined  by  the  surgeon  of  the  ship 
to  which  he  is  attached,  and  pronounced  physi- 
cally fit  for  the  contest ;  and  no  bout  shall  go  more 
than  seven  rounds  of  two  minutes  each,  with  one- 
minute  rests  between  the  rounds.  It  is  in  the 
evening  that  the  scene  is  laid  for  these  heroes  of 
the  ring,  and  well  does  "jack"  fit  the  setting  to 
the  occasion.  A  large  stage  is  rigged  on  the  fore- 
castle or  quarterdeck,  with  dropcurtains  and 
regulation  flies  and  wings.  The  band  has 
rehearsed  a  special  program  for  the  audience's 
entertainment.  Bows  of  chairs  fill  every  avail- 
able deck  space,  while  on  the  turrets  and  cranes 
and  masts  there  is  "standing  room  only"  when 
the  ship's  bell  strikes  eight.  As  a  fitting  intro- 
duction to  the  main  part  of  the  program,  the 
ever  popular  minstrel  show,  with  its  songs  and 
dances,  and  jokes  and  sketches,  holds  the  center 
of  the  stage;  and  then  follow  the  bouts,  the  star 
acts,  which  appeal  to  every  man  from  the  admiral 
down  to  the  youngest  bluejacket.  At  every  favor- 
able opportunity  a  smoker  is  given.  Each  ship 
takes  her  turn  in  acting  the  part  of  "hostess," 
thereby  returning  the  hospitality  of  her  consorts. 
The  captain  entertains  the  captains  of  the  other 
ships ;  the  wardroom  invites  all  the  officers  of  that 
particular  mess  throughout  the  fleet;  the  junior 
officers,  their  contemporaries;  and  so  on  down 
the  line  to  the  enlisted  men  themselves.  It  is  fun, 


110  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

real  fun,  and  everyone  has  a  good  laugh  and  a 
good  time. 

But  what  of  the  National  Game?  To  many  a 
landsman  the  sight  of  jack  tars  navigating  the 
base  paths  and  sliding  for  home  plate  may  seem 
incongruous  and  un-nautical.  Yet,  strange  as  it 
may  seem,  the  bluejacket  loves  the  sport  as  much 
as  the  most  rabid  fan  of  professional  baseball, 
and,  whenever  the  opportunity  offers,  needs  but 
little  urging  to  get  him  out  on  the  field  when 
a  diamond  lies  within  hail.  It  is  seldom  difficult, 
therefore,  to  get  together  a  good  team  from  the 
nine  hundred  men  on  board  each  battleship,  and 
even  the  auxiliaries  and  destroyers,  and  the  tiny 
submarines,  have  their  nines,  each  as  well 
equipped,  and,  in  many  instances,  as  well  trained, 
as  the  average  minor  league  team. 

It  is  only  in  recent  years,  however,  that  base- 
ball has  been  on  an  organized  basis,  with  a  full 
schedule  and  a  regularly  accepted  process  of 
elimination,  aiming  to  bring  together  the  best 
teams  of  the  fleet  for  the  final  championship 
games.  The  official  fleet  baseball  schedule  now 
comprises  one  big  league,  divided  into  six  different 
parts.  The  rivalries  are  first  settled  in  each  of 
the  four  battleship  divisions,  the  destroyer  divi- 
sion of  twenty  boats,  and  the  division  of  auxilia- 
ries. Each  ship  plays  every  other  ship  of  its 
division  once  in  the  preliminary  series;  then  the 


O 

2= 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  NAVY  111 

leaders  of  the  several  divisions  meet  in  a  three- 
game  series,  and  lastly  comes  the  final  series  of 
five  games  between  the  two  best  remaining  teams 
for  the  twenty-foot-long  championship  pennant 
and  the  gold  baseball  watch  charms  awarded  each 
member  of  the  winning  nine. 

As  early  as  the  first  of  January,  the  ships' 
teams  begin  their  " spring  training  trips,"  many 
weeks  before  the  big  professional  league  players 
pack  their  grips  for  the  Southern  training  camps 
in  answer  to  the  call  of  the  diamond.  For  this 
the  Navy  again  has  Guantanamo  Bay  to  thank. 
With  the  assembling  of  the  fleet  within  its  shel- 
tered harbor,  it  is  * l  baseball  party  ashore ' '  every 
afternoon  after  four  o'clock,  and  on  Saturday 
and  Sunday  afternoons.  For  the  first  six  weeks 
the  ships'  athletic  officers  and  the  team  captains 
have  their  hands  full  trying  out  the  hundreds  of 
candidates,  and  determining  the  final  make-up  of 
their  nines.  One  officer  may  play  on  each  team, 
if  he  can  make  it,  but  there  is  no  favoritism  shown 
and  every  man  must  continually  be  on  his  toes 
to  keep  the  position  he  has  won  over  his  eager 
competitors.  The  coaches  are  almost  invariably 
officers,  Naval  Academy  graduates  who  played 
on  the  Navy  team  in  their  midshipman  days ;  but 
the  captains  of  the  ships'  teams  are  always 
enlisted  men. 

Whenever  circumstances  permit,  the  complete 


112  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

schedule  is  played  off  at  Guantanamo  Bay.  But 
sometimes  the  work  of  the  fleet  renders  this 
impossible,  and  the  setting  for  the  championship 
games  is  then  transferred  to  Newport,  where  the 
sailors  have  been  allowed  the  use  of  the  splendid 
diamonds  in  Wellington  Park.  Here,  in  the 
summer  week-ends,  the  final  encounters  are 
staged.  Every  man  that  can  be  spared  from  duty 
is  on  the  side  lines  to  cheer  his  favorite  team, 
and  not  a  few  of  the  inhabitants  also  visit  the 
field  to  witness  the  spirited  contests  between  the 
men  of  the  different  ships.  All  day  Saturday, 
practically,  and  Sundays  after  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon — church  services  having  been  held  at 
ten  o'clock  and  the  men's  dinners  at  noon — are 
devoted  to  outdoor  sports,  and,  as  one  officer 
justly  remarked,  this  way  of  spending  their  time 
is  of  vastly  more  benefit  to  the  bluejackets  than 
keeping  the  seven  or  eight  thousand  of  them 
locked  up  in  the  ships  or  landing  them  simply 
to  roam  about  a  small  and  half  empty  town. 
Some  diversion  has  to  be  furnished,  and  in  base- 
ball the  Navy  has  found  the  solution  of  a 
problem  that  for  many  years  was  the  despair 
of  every  officer  and  man  afloat.8 

Of  the  various  other  sports,  the  most  impor- 
tant, from  the  military  point  of  view,  are  those 

3  An  interesting  discussion  of  this  question  may  be  found  in 
Admiral  Evans's  An  Admiral's  Log,  p.  349. 


g 
a 

00 

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o 

3 
O 


i.i 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  NAVY  113 

pertaining  to  swimming,  shooting,  and  signalling. 
All  three  are  nautical  sports,  essential  to  the 
bluejacket  in  his  work,  and  their  inclusion  among 
the  events  counting  towards  the  Department 
General  Excellence  Trophy  has  resulted  in  a 
happy  combination  of  play  with  work.  Great 
importance  has  always  been  attached  to  teaching 
the  men  how  to  swim.  From  the  day  of  their 
enlistment  as  apprentice  seamen,  the  bluejackets 
learn  how  to  take  care  of  themselves  in  the  water, 
and  with  the  opportunities  afforded  by  the  warm 
waters  of  the  tropical  seas  in  the  winter  months, 
there  has  been  little  difficulty  in  arousing  a 
general  interest  in  the  Assistant  Secretary's 
Swimming  Cup.  The  money  prizes  offered  by 
the  Navy  Department  for  the  enlisted  men's  rifle 
team  matches  and  the  handsome  trophy  presented 
by  the  citizens  of  Auckland,  N.  Z.,  in  1908,  for 
the  officer's  matches,  also  aroused  from  the  first 
a  new  feeling  towards  this  phase  of  the  navy's 
work,  and  the  great  progress  in  marksmanship 
with  rifles  and  pistols  that  has  within  the  past 
few  years  marked  the  fleet's  work,  is  sufficient 
evidence  that  the  right  kind  of  spirit  has  been 
aroused.  Mention  must  also  be  made  of  the 
Correspondents'  Cup  for  Signalling,  presented 
by  the  newspaper  men  who  accompanied  the 
Atlantic  Fleet  on  its  globe-circling  cruise  some 
years  ago,  which  trophy  also  aroused  a  new 


114  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

interest  among  the  men  in  their  work  on  the 
signal-bridge,  and  materially  encouraged  them 
to  attain  perfection  through  constant  practice  by 
day  and  by  night. 

This  spirit  of  competition  that  has  sprung  up 
in  athletics  has,  without  doubt,  been  a  great  asset 
to  the  navy  in  reaching  its  present  state  of  effi- 
ciency. Officers  and  men  have  learned  to  play 
hard  as  well  as  work  hard.  Drills,  routine  duties, 
manoeuvres,  target-practice,  and  sports  have  their 
allotted  times  in  the  fleet's  annual  schedule.  Every 
possible  encouragement  is  given  to  athletics,  once 
the  day's  duty  is  done,  and  this  happy  mingling 
of  work  with  play  has  had  a  naturally  excellent 
effect  upon  both  the  physique  and  morale  of  all 
concerned. 


THE  SAILOR  AS  SOLDIER 

Though  it  may  be  generally  appreciated  that 
the  two  main  branches  of  a  nation 's  military  force 
are  its  army  and  its  navy,  whose  fields  of  opera- 
tion are  respectively  on  shore  and  afloat,  it  is  not 
a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  the  navy, 
unlike  the  army,  is  often  called  upon  to  operate 
not  only  upon  its  own  particular  element,  the  sea, 
but  also  upon  terra  firma.  Yet  this  has  ever  been 
so.  The  very  first  oversea  expedition  entered 
upon  by  the  United  States  navy,  against  the 
Island  of  New  Providence  in  the  winter  of  1776, 
was  an  offensive  operation  in  which  the  ships' 
crews  were  called  upon  to  attack  the  enemy  upon 
his  own  chosen  ground.  And  since  that  date  it 
has  been  necessary  for  the  navy,  in  more  than  a 
hundred  instances,  to  land  parties  of  sailors  and 
marines  in  every  part  of  the  globe.  The  enemy 
may  not  have  possessed  a  single  ship,  yet  the 
navy  has  had  to  act  in  the  field  against  him.  In 
Sumatra  in  1832,  in  the  Florida  Indian  wars  of 
1836  and  1841,  in  the  Fiji  Islands  in  1840,  at 
Montevideo  in  1868,  at  Alexandria,  Egypt,  in 
1882,  and  in  Nicaragua  in  1912,  our  sailors  have 
been  called  upon  to  do  what  the  army  was  not 
in  a  position  to  attempt.  The  acquisition  of 


116  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

California  in  1846  would  never  have  been  possible 
had  it  not  been  for  the  presence  of  our  bluejackets 
under  Stockton  and  Du  Pont;  the  horror  of  a 
fanatical  massacre  would  have  defiled  the  recent 
history  of  China  had  not  our  naval  brigades 
co-operated  with  those  of  England  and  the  other 
allies  in  1900  in  relieving  the  besieged  legations 
and  sheltering  the  foreign  residents  of  PeMn  and 
Tientsin;  and  our  Far  Eastern  policy  would 
never  have  had  the  position  which  it  occupies 
today  had  it  not  been  for  the  stand  taken  by  our 
naval  officers  before  the  Barrier  Forts  of  Canton 
in  1854  and  in  the  Salee  Biver,  Corea,  in  1871. 
Often  the  navy  has  also  actively  co-operated  with 
the  army  in  shore  operations,  as  at  the  Battle  of 
Bladensburg  in  1814,  at  the  first  Battle  of  Bull 
Bun  in  1861,  during  the  dashing  assault  upon 
Fort  Fisher  in  1865,  and,  more  recently,  in  our 
efforts  to  restore  peace  and  quiet  in  the  Philip- 
pines. Even  where  the  navy  has  had  no  actual 
hand  in  operations,  it  still  has  been  back  of  the 
army  and  co-operating  with  it.  No  one  can  study 
the  campaigns  of  our  own  Civil  War  without 
realizing  how  different  would  have  been  its  out- 
come had  it  not  been  for  the  part  played  by  the 
Union  sea  forces. 

The  task  of  peacemaker,  then,  has  been  a  role 
that  the  navy  has  been  called  upon  to  play,  and 
play  well,  on  more  than  a  mere  score  of  occasions. 


o 
X 

o 
> 

* 


THE  SAILOR  AS  SOLDIER  117 

And  it  has  been  a  duty  calling  for  a  display  of 
the  rarest  tact  and  diplomacy.  For,  though  the 
landing  of  a  nation 's  marines  and  sailors  on 
foreign  soil  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  peace 
and  order  may  not,  by  international  custom,  be 
construed  as  an  act  of  war,  the  invasion  of  an 
army  expeditionary  force  would  in  all  probability 
be  so  regarded.  The  actions  of  the  officers  and 
men  employed  in  landing  duty  have  an  influence 
upon  a  situation  that  is  bound  to  be  far-reaching 
and  is,  in  many  cases,  decisive. 

It  is,  however,  no  case  of  "soldiering  on  a 
rope."1  Our  bluejackets  may  have  to  learn  most 
of  their  infantry  drill  and  manual  of  arms  with 
decks  aslant,  and  may  have  a  peculiar,  deep-sea 
manner  of  doing  "squads  right"  and  "port 
arms,"  at  the  same  time  climbing  toward  the 
starboard  rail,  yet  when  they  go  ashore,  they 
swing  past  the  reviewing  stand  with  a  precision 
of  movement  that  would  do  credit  to  the  foreign 
legion  of  France,  the  best  marchers  in  the  world. 
And  what  is  more,  the  minute  their  services  are 
needed  on  shore,  the  instant  the  bugle-call  sounds, 
they  stand  ready  to  give  an  exhibition  of  courage 
and  conduct  under  fire,  or  under  any  other  trying 
conditions,  that  deserves  more  than  praise.  But 
they  hate  it,  hate  it  cordially  and  whole-heartedly, 
for  it  is  not  sailoring  in  their  eyes. 

i  A  seaman  fa  term  for  ' '  loafing. ' ' 


118  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

Yet  the  fact  that,  in  practically  every  oversea 
expedition  in  which  the  army  and  navy  of  a  nation 
have  been  concerned,  the  navy  has  furnished  the 
advance  force  in  the  landing  operations,  has  time 
and  again  emphasized  the  necessity  of  familiar- 
izing the  crews  of  our  ships-of-war  with  the  work 
which  they  may  be  called  upon  to  perform  on 
shore.  To  this  end  a  limited  experience  in  camp 
each  year  has  been  found  most  desirable — a  few 
weeks  of  the  winter  and  summer  schedules  when 
the  landing  forces  of  each  ship  may  be  put 
under  canvas  on  the  "beach,"  and  drilled  in  the 
essentials  of  scouting,  patrol  duty,  and  outpost 
work. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  admi- 
rable location  which  the  navy  obtained  some  years 
ago  for  its  winter  drill  ground  in  Guantanamo 
Bay.  The  possession  of  that  beautiful  sheet  of 
water  solved  many  of  the  battle-fleet's  problems, 
but  none  more  than  those  bearing  on  the  training 
of  its  enlisted  men  as  soldiers  on  shore,  without 
wasting  their  time  with  the  various  petty  duties 
that,  during  that  particular  portion  of  the  sched- 
ule, could  as  well  be  attended  to  by  the  "stay  at 
homes."  The  various  rivers  and  inlets,  beaches 
and  hillocks,  furnish  just  the  settings  for  the 
practice  of  armed-boat  expeditions,  and  for  offen- 
sive and  defensive  shore  operations.  Morning 
after  morning  boatloads  of  bluejackets,  provi- 


THE  SAILOR  AS  SOLDIER  119 

sioned  for  several  days  and  armed  to  the  teeth, 
can  shove  off  from  their  respective  ships  and 
engage  in  the  various  duties  that,  in  time  of  actual 
war,  would  be  required  of  them  in  scouting  and 
reconnoitering,  keeping  navigation  open  in  small 
streams,  surprising  and  boarding  the  enemy 's 
ships,  and  other  details  of  blockade  duty.  In 
addition,  the  high  bluff  of  Deer  Point,  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  bay,  can  be  converted  into  a 
real  tent  city.  Twelve  hundred  and  fifty  men 
may  there  be  housed  under  canvas,  and  martial 
law  established  on  the  sun-baked  tidal-plain  that 
nature  offered  us  for  conversion  into  the  finest 
small-arms  target  range  in  the  world.  The  blue- 
jacket 's  training  as  soldier  is  thus  actually  begun. 
Each  ship  of  the  navy  has  its  allotted  period 
of  shore  duty,  and,  in  order  that  there  may  be 
no  misunderstanding  as  to  how  her  landing  force 
should  be  organized  and  drilled,  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment many  years  ago  began  publishing  "Landing 
Force  and  Small  Arms  Instructions,"  that 
recently  have  been  revised  and  issued  in  a  five 
hundred  page  volume,  which  covers  every  possible 
contingency  from  first-aid  to  artillery  regulations. 
"Each  ship  and  squadron,"  begins  the  opening 
paragraph  of  the  1912  edition,  "shall  have  a 
permanently  organized  landing  force,  composed 
of  infantry  and  artillery."  This  force,  for 
purposes  of  instruction  and  in  order  that  the 


120  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

maximum  number  may  be  ready  for  service  on 
shore  in  an  emergency,  is  as  large  as  possible, 
and  is  formed  from  the  fighting-divisions  of  the 
ship,  the  gun-divisions  and  the  powder-divisions, 
but  it  is  doubtful  whether,  under  actual  service 
conditions,  ever  more  than  one-half  of  this 
organized  body  would  be  landed  at  any  one  time, 
since  a  sufficient  number  of  men  must  always  be 
left  on  board  to  care  for  the  ship,  move  her 
engines,  and  man  her  battery. 

The  unit  of  this  organization  is  the  section  of 
twenty-four  men,  commanded  by  one  commis- 
sioned officer  and  three  petty  officers.  When 
acting  as  infantry,  two  of  these  sections  form  a 
company,  and  the  joining  of  the  several  com- 
panies into  battalions,  regiments,  and  brigades 
follows  closely  that  prescribed  in  the  army  regu- 
lations, while  the  artillery  sections  conform  to 
the  platoon  and  battery  organization  of  the  field 
artillery  service  on  shore.  Of  course  the  usual 
special  details  are  always  included  in  every  land- 
ing force  thus  organized — pioneers,  electricians, 
and  locomotive  engineers  to  take  charge  of  elec- 
tric plants  and  railroad  property,  a  gun-cotton 
party  to  blow  up  bridges  and  fortifications, 
signalmen,  an  ammunition-party,  an  ambulance- 
party,  and  the  necessary  commissariat  and 
messmen.  Every  man  is  fully  equipped  for 
"distant  service."  He  has  his  packed  army  kit, 


THE  SAILOR  AS  SOLDIER  121 

his  rubber-blanket  and  overcoat,  his  rifle  and 
cartridge-belt,  cup,  water-filled  canteen,  and 
leggings ;  also  his  rations,  knife,  fork,  spoon,  and 
plate,  and  perhaps  an  additional  luxury  in  the 
form  of  a  frying  pan;  and  likewise  his  blanket, 
extra  clothing,  socks  and  shoes,  and  watch  cap. 
Thus  equipped,  "jack"  is  ready  to  go  anywhere, 
and  he  goes ! 

In  the  larger  landing  forces  there  are  also  the 
usual  regimental  and  battalion  staffs  found  in  the 
army  regimental  organizations.2  The  regimental- 
commander,  appointed  from  among  the  captains 
in  the  fleet,  has  the  necessary  officers  detailed  to 
his  personal  staff — the  regimental-adjutant,  quar- 
termaster, ordnance-officer,  commissary,  surgeon, 
signal-officer,  and  aides — who  are  accountable 
for  the  efficiency  of  their  various  branches.  How 
important  their  duties  are  is  not  often  appre- 
ciated. But  the  training  they  have  received  on 
shipboard,  due  to  the  conditions  of  sea  life,  has 
been  such  that  they  are  almost  invariably  quali- 
fied for  the  tasks  devolving  upon  them,  and  the 
resulting  efficiency  of  our  naval  landing  forces 
has  generally  been  due  to  the  intelligent  under- 
standing by  these  leaders  of  the  work  before  them 

2  The  organization  of  the  battle-fleet  into  four  divisions,  each 
of  four  ships,  is  the  reason  for  the  designating  of  the  landing 
force  of  a  division  (four  or  five  battalions  including  the  marine 
battalion)  as  a  "Begiment"  and  the  total  force  of  the  fleet 
(four  regiments)  as  a  "Brigade." 


122  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

and  to  the  way  in  which  that  spirit  has  been 
conveyed  to  their  men  in  the  company  ranks. 

Since  various  points  have  generally  to  be 
considered  before  throwing  a  landing  force  on 
shore  in  an  enemy's  country,  the  task  of  landing 
a  ship's  or  a  fleet's  armed  force  is  one  calling 
for  more  than  ordinary  caution.  The  time  and 
place  of  such  landings  depend  largely  upon 
circumstances  and  emergencies.  Ever  so  many 
factors  have  to  be  taken  into  consideration.  The 
enemy's  position  must  be  accurately  known,  and 
the  presence  in  the  vicinity  of  fortifications  or 
defenses ;  the  available  charts  have  to  be  carefully 
studied  for  the  topography  of  the  country  to  be 
entered  and  the  roads  by  which  the  force  is  to 
advance;  the  beach  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
landing  place  selected  must  not  afford  cover  for 
an  enemy's  force,  and  such  landing  place  should, 
if  possible,  be  under  a  lee,  where  the  rise  and  fall 
of  the  tide  have  been  ascertained,  and  where 
there  exist  good  holding  ground  for  the  covering- 
ships  to  anchor,  or  safe  waters  for  them  to 
manoeuvre  during  the  landing. 

At  the  appointed  hour,  the  embarkation  takes 
place.  The  cutters  and  large  whale-boats  are  filled 
with  the  infantry  sections,  one  section  complete 
in  each  boat  and  seated  so  as  to  be  ready  to  deploy 
the  instant  the  boats  ground  on  the  beach.  The 
artillery  sections,  with  their  three-inch  field 


THE  SAILOR  AS  SOLDIER  123 

pieces,  are  embarked  in  the  sailing-launches  and 
large  cutters.  At  the  signal  from  the  flagship, 
the  boats  of  each  ship  are  formed  in  column,  in 
tow  of  their  respective  steam-launches,  which  are 
armed  with  machine  guns  mounted  in  their  bows. 
Carefully  shelling  the  beach,  searching  out  all 
points  where  an  enemy  may  be  concealed  and 
keeping  up  a  heavy  fire,  the  flotilla  of  boats 
approaches  the  shore.  Then  at  the  whistle-signal 
of  command,  the  boats  cast  off,  catch  the  water 
with  their  oars,  rush  in  under  cover  of  the  fire 
of  the  steam-launches,  and  pour  out  their  sections 
upon  the  beach.  In  a  moment  the  companies  are 
formed;  in  the  next  instant,  the  loose-knit  lines 
of  skirmishers  have  disappeared  into  the  country 
beyond. 

But  the  chief  object  of  the  fleet's  visit  to  Guan- 
tanamo  Bay  is  to  make  full  use  of  the  wonderful 
small-arms  target  range  which  the  service  has 
been  fortunate  enough  to  find,  practically  ready 
made,  within  hail  of  its  moorings  in  the  waters 
of  that  bay.  Not  half  a  mile  behind  Deer  Point, 
at  the  head  of  a  small  inlet  extending  behind  that 
bluff,  yet  concealed  from  view  from  the  bay,  is 
that  remarkable  tidal-plain,  under  water  during 
the  rainy  season,  but  dry  and  level  as  a  ship's 
deck  during  the  winter  months  when  the  fleet 
visits  the  Caribbean.  The  Bureau  of  Ordnance 
of  the  Navy  Department  in  Washington  at  once 


124  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

appreciated  this  opportunity  offered  by  nature. 
It  set  to  work  with  a  will,  and,  with  the  expendi- 
ture of  a  merely  nominal  sum,  turned  the  sun- 
baked plain  into  the  finest  and  largest  small-arms 
target  range  in  the  world. 

That  no  precious  moments  might  be  wasted  in 
making  the  trip  to  and  from  the  fleet  to  this  now 
invaluable  spot,  it  has  been  the  custom,  from  the 
first,  to  send  on  shore  an  entire  regiment  at  a 
time  to  camp  on  Deer  Point.  On  its  high  bluff, 
twenty  feet  above  sea  level,  the  bluejackets  pitch 
their  tents,  by  companies  and  battalions,  and 
install  their  galleys,  incinerators,  and  mess  tents. 
Here,  under  canvas,  they  learn  the  drudgery  of 
the  soldier's  life.  The  strict  discipline  of  camp 
routine  is  constantly  enforced.  While  the  stars 
are  yet  blinking  in  the  firmament,  and  the  cold 
night  air  still  chills  the  pacing  sentries,  the  bugle 
blows  the  .reveille.  Over  the  waters  of  the  bay 
comes  the  sound  of  two  bells.  It  is  five  o'clock. 
A  general  rush  down  to  the  dock  at  the  landing 
place  follows,  a  plunge  into  the  refreshing  waters 
of  the  bay,  a  quick  rub,  a  moment  for  dressing, 
another  to  make  beds  (the  men  sleep  in  camp 
cots  on  shore),  and  everyone  is  ready  for  the 
breakfast  now  awaiting  him.  After  that  every 
man  carefully  examines  his  rifle,  wipes  off  the 
grease  with  which  he  has  smeared  it  after  clean- 
ing the  evening  before,  and  it  is  "Fall  in"  for 


.9  '*t 


4  V    , 


J»-  *t 

;  1      ', 


VI 

V 


THE  SAILOR  AS  SOLDIER  125 

the  target  range.  At  that  moment  the  dawn  is 
beginning  to  break,  the  sun  rises  like  a  ball  of 
fire  from  behind  the  Cuzco  Hills,  and  the  day's 
work  has  begun.  "Forward  March."  The 
regiment  is  off  for  the  target-practice.  From 
seven  in  the  morning  to  five  in  the  afternoon 
every  man  is  "up  and  at  it."  Under  the  heat 
and  glare  of  the  tropical  sun,  section  after 
section  comes  upon  the  range  for  instruction  in 
small-arms  firing  with  rifles  and  pistols.  Every 
man  receives  individual  instruction  from  the 
section  commanders,  most  of  whom  are  expert 
shots  and  veterans  of  Camp  Perry  and  other 
international  matches.  The  mechanism  and 
workings  of  the  Springfields  have  already  been 
carefully  explained  to  the  men,  and  all  have  been 
through  the  monotonous  sighting-drills  on  ship- 
board until  every  man  knows  just  how  much  of 
his  front  sight  to  show  and  what  is  meant  by  a 
full-sight,  fine-sight,  or  half-sight.  One  by  one 
the  men  are  put  through  the  course  of  instruction, 
first  at  slow  fire,  then  at  rapid  fire  and  skirmish 
fire.  Then,  if  they  have  made  a  qualifying  score, 
they  are  graduated  to  the  sharpshooters'  course, 
and  finally  to  the  expert  riflemen's  range.  At 
25  and  50  yards  their  scores  are  made  with 
pistols ;  at  200,  300,  500,  800,  and  1,000  yards  with 
rifles.  As  in  everything  else  that  the  navy  does, 
competition  has  become  no  small  factor  in  the 


126  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

final  success  of  this  phase  of  the  bluejackets' 
work.  It  is  man  against  man,  section  against 
section,  company  against  company,  and  ship 
against  ship.  Cash  prizes,  as  well  as  medals,  are 
offered  for  excellence  with  small  arms,  while  to 
the  ships  of  the  Atlantic,  Pacific,  and  Asiatic 
Fleets  making  the  best  performances  for  the  year 
with  these  weapons  the  Navy  Department  awards 
silver  trophies  that  are  highly  prized  by  the  crews 
winning  them.  But  the  final  reward  to  these 
riflemen  comes  still  later  in  the  year  when  the 
teams  are  selected,  from  among  the  officers  and 
enlisted  men  who  have  made  the  best  scores,  to 
represent  the  navy  in  the  annual  National  Small- 
Arms  Matches  at  Camp  Perry.3 

For  weeks  the  reports  of  the  Springfields  are 
incessant,  the  rattle  of  musketry  interrupted  only 
by  the  booming  of  the  three-inch  field  guns  on  the 
artillery  range  in  the  hills  beyond  and  the  reports 
of  the  one-pounders  and  gatling  guns  that, 
mounted  in  the  bows  of  the  steam  launches,  are 
covering  the  landing  of  some  ship's  battalion  in 

3  Among  the  many  interesting  rifle  matches  in  which  the  navy 
has  in  recent  years  participated  may  be  mentioned  the  one  held 
at  Portland,  England,  in  November,  1910,  between  teams  from 
the  U.  S.  S.  Connecticut  and  H.  B.  M.  S.  Dreadnought,  which  the 
former  won  by  the  score  of  806  to  785.  The  Connecticut's  team 
was  composed  of  four  ensigns,  one  midshipman,  one  turret  cap- 
tain, one  coxswain,  one  ordinary  seaman,  and  two  marine  privates; 
that  of  the  Dreadnought  of  four  officers,  one  petty  officer,  three 
seamen,  one  corporal,  and  one  private. 


Cfl 
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•»'  '    ;>tii 


• 

'      '  v 


THE  SAILOR  AS  SOLDIER  127 

the  neighborhood  of  Lighthouse  Point.  But 
there  is  also  other  work  to  be  done.  While  five 
hundred  of  the  men  from  the  ships'  landing 
forces  then  in  camp  are  breaking  records  on  the 
firing  line  and  marking  the  target-screens  in  the 
pits,  the  seven  hundred  not  thus  engaged  are 
working  against  time  on  another  part  of  the 
tidal-plain  which  answers  the  purpose  of  a  parade 
ground,  or  among  the  Cuzco  Hills,  where  a 
veritable  jungle  challenges  the  skirmish  lines  of 
the  white-clad  sailor-soldiers.  What  is  to  be 
done  is  included  in  the  hundreds  of  pages  of 
the  regulations  and  instructions.  Outposts, 
patrols  and  scouting  parties  are  sent  to  scour 
the  country  far  and  near,  the  marching  columns 
are  practiced  in  every  art  of  advance-  and  rear- 
guard duty,  "hikes"  innumerable  are  held  until 
the  men  become  as  familiar  with  the  topography 
of  the  naval  reservation  as  they  already  are  with 
every  compartment  of  their  own  ships.  Once  in 
a  while  the  battalions  are  sent  over  the  twelve- 
foot  wall  that  circles  the  station  grounds,  while 
at  other  times  field  works  are  erected,  and  the 
men  instructed  in  the  details  of  extended  order 
drill  and  night  operations.  The  infantry  drill 
regulations  are  drummed  into  all  until  the  manual 
of  arms,  the  school  of  the  recruit,  and  the  school 
of  the  squad  are  known  by  heart  from  cover  to 
cover.  Two  weeks  of  this  work  every  man  of 


128  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

the  deck  divisions  has,  two  weeks  of  hard,  dirty 
work,  until  "  jack"  longs  for  the  day  when  he  may 
return  to  his  home  afloat,  that  one  and  only  spot 
where  fresh  water  flows  in  abundance  and  where 
he  may  keep  his  whites  immaculate  without 
having  to  resort  to  his  pail  of  water  and  cake  of 
salt-water  soap  three  or  four  times  a  day. 

But,  while  trudging  along  thus  in  soldier 
fashion,  the  spirit  of  the  sailor,  that  indefinable, 
inimitable  something,  is  ever  there.  It  is  always 
breaking  out  in  some  manner,  in  a  remark  or  in 
an  action,  which  gives  an  atmosphere  of  salt- 
water ways  to  the  infantry  column  never  found 
among  the  "dough-boys."  Yet  among  "jack's" 
thousand  shipmates  on  board  his  own  ship  are 
some  seventy  men  who  are  soldiers  by  profession, 
soldiers  whose  real  work  is  upon  terra  firma, 
though  they  are  a  branch  of  the  sea  service. 

When  the  King  of  England,  in  1664,  created 
the  "Duke  of  York  and  Albany's  Maritime 
Regiment  of  Foot,"  he  established  one  of  the 
most  important  and  interesting  naval  innovations 
ever  devised  by  seaman  or  landsman.  It  was  an 
innovation  indeed,  a  bold  departure  from  tradi- 
tion, but  one  that  did  wonders  for  the  sea  service 
and  thenceforth  assured  each  ship  a  certain 
number  of  trained  marksmen  and  riflemen  upon 
whom  the  British  naval  captains  came  to  depend 
when  there  was  need  to  clear  an  enemy's  decks 


en 


THE  SAILOR  AS  SOLDIER  129 

or  board  a  hostile  ship.  Today  only  American 
and  British  warships  carry  marines.  The  French 
have  their  "Infanterie  de  Marine,"  but  it  is  a 
land  force,  and  a  land  force  only,  for  service  in 
the  colonies  and  outlying  possessions. 

To  some  few  it  has  seemed  as  if  the  marines 
had  outlived  their  usefulness  on  board  ship.  At 
one  time  their  banishment  to  shore  routine  was 
actually  decreed  and  effected.  But  the  legislative 
history  of  our  marine  corps  shows  that  it  was 
created*  in  the  very  beginning  for  sea  service  on 
board  vessels  of  war,  and  for  sea  service  only. 
Sea  service  brought  it  forth,  and  sea  service  has 
perpetuated  it.  For  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  years  our  own  marines  have  slung  their 
hammocks  between  decks  and  done  their  share 
of  the  work,  and  experience  has  demonstrated 
beyond  a  doubt  that  they  have  worked  well 
aboard  ship  with  the  sailors,  and  that,  on  the 
other  hand,  when  exigencies  have  demanded 
service  ashore,  our  bluejackets  have  worked  well 
there  with  the  marines.  The  recent  campaign 

*  In  October,  1775,  by  special  act  of  Congress.  No  question  is 
so  little  understood  as  the  relation  between  the  marines  and  the 
navy.  That  useful  and  renowned  corps  was  not  originally  formed 
as  an  instrument  to  repress  seamen,  but  because  it  provided 
cheaply  and  readily  a  supply  of  reliable  and  disciplined  men  to 
complete  deficiencies  when  the  ships  of  war  were  mobilized.  It 
is  true  that  at  times  experience  showed  that  the  marines  were  a 
useful  counterpoise  to  the  seamen,  but  this  advantage  was  quite 
secondary. 


130  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

on    Nicaragua!!    soil    confirmed    this    beyond    a 
doubt.6 

That  the  marine  corps  has  become  the  mobile 
force  that  it  now  is,  is  no  doubt  due  to  the  sea 
habit  acquired  since  its  establishment  on  board 
vessels  of  the  navy  by  a  portion  of  its  force  and 
distributed  from  that  portion  throughout  its 
entire  personnel  serving  elsewhere.  The  expe- 
rience gained  by  its  rank  and  file  as  a  component 
part  of  the  ship's  organization  has  had  a  worth 
to  them  and  to  the  naval  service  that  can  never 
be  overestimated.  Only  by  service  there  has  the 
naval  purpose  of  the  marine  been  realized,  and 
the  familiarity  with  naval  methods  acquired  on 
the  forecastle  by  the  private  has  had  an  effect 
upon  his  individual  efficiency  that  none  can 
appreciate  more  than  he.  To  these  conditions, 
to  the  varied  experience  of  its  officers  and  men — 
an  experience  gained  in  every  sea  and  in  every 
clime — the  marine  corps  owes  the  qualities  that 
have  developed  its  personnel  into  the  highly 
trained,  efficient  mobile  force  of  naval  infantry 

s  In  the  attack  on  Coyotepe  Hill,  a  bluejacket  from  the  armored 
cruiser  California,  carrying  the  colors,  was  one  of  the  first  with 
the  marines  to  reach  the  enemy's  trenches  at  the  top,  while  at 
Nindiri,  a  landing  force  of  marines  and  bluejackets  (the  latter 
with  their  snow-white  uniforms  intentionally  soiled  and  besmeared 
with  mud  lest  they  be  removed  from  the  assaulting  column  because 
of  their  conspicuous  "rig")  rushed  a  practically  impregnable 
position  with  an  enthusiasm  worthy  of  Thomas's  troops  at 
Missionary  Eidge  in  1863. 


THE  SAILOR  AS  SOLDIER  131 

ready  and  available  for  naval  use.  Today  the 
corps  is  primarily  an  adjunct  of  the  navy,  a 
mobile  force,  stationed  on  board  ship,  in  the  home 
ports,  and  at  the  advanced  bases,  always  ready 
to  act  in  conjunction  with  the  navy  in  preserving 
order  beyond  the  territorial  limits  of  the  United 
States  and  in  occupying  strategic  points  in 
advance  of  the  army  when  to  move  the  army 
would  occasion  war.  The  number  on  shore  is 
based  upon  the  necessary  brigade  organizations ; 
the  number  afloat  provides  for  a  full  detachment 
on  board  each  of  the  large  ships  of  the  fleets." 
And  it  is  this  last  detail,  the  actual  cruising  at 
sea,  that  keeps  the  marine  corps  in  touch  with 
naval  conditions  and  so  mobile  that  on  a  few 
hours'  notice  it  could  start  for  any  place  where 
its  services  were  needed. 

The  marines  make  of  the  navy  both  an  army 
and  a  navy.  They  give  the  navy  an  army  of  ten 
thousand  men,  a  force  of  the  most  mobile  char- 
acter, which  can  be  rapidly  concentrated,  occupy 
important  coast  positions  and,  perhaps,  go  far  to 
settle  an  important  war  long  before  it  is  possible 
for  an  army  even  to  begin  its  concentration.  The 
marine  corps  can  be  carried  to  the  most  distant 
points  without  effort,  it  has  the  best  bases  of 

«The  Marine  Corps  is  the  one  branch  of  our  fighting  service 
which  is  always  recruited  up  to  full  strength.  At  the  date  of 
writing  (December,  1913),  there  was  not  a  single  vacancy  in  the 
entire  corps. 


132  OUK  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

supply,  and  its  acts,  in  most  cases,  cannot  be 
construed  as  war  unless  one  wishes  to  make  them 
war.  It  is  a  great  instrument  of  which  we  do  not 
always  appreciate  the  value,  an  instrument  which, 
by  a  peculiar  existing  custom  and  international 
understanding,  if  not  by  law,  we  can  land  upon 
foreign  soil  for  the  protection  of  our  own  and 
foreign  citizens,  without  being  precipitated  into 
a  war.  Even  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  his  Secretary  of  War  did  not  grasp  this 
difference  between  the  uses  of  an  army  and  a 
naval  force  a  few  years  ago  when  the  Nicaraguan 
difficulty  called  for  immediate  action  on  our  part. 
A  regiment  of  soldiers  was  actually  under  orders 
to  leave  the  Canal  Zone  for  Nicaragua,  when  the 
Executive,  fortunately,  was  informed  of  his  error, 
the  order  rescinded,  and  the  matter  left  to  the 
navy.  Battles  were  fought,  and  we  lost  several 
men,  but  it  was  not  called  war. 


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THE  WOBK  OF  THE  TORPEDO 
FLOTILLAS 

From  the  days  when  the  might  of  Britain  began 
to  assert  itself  in  maritime  affairs,  the  line-of- 
battle-ship  has  been  the  unit  of  strength  by  which 
the  sea-power  of  nations  has  been  judged.  It 
was  so  in  the  time  of  Nelson  and  Rodney,  when 
the  decisive  engagements  were  fought  out  with 
the  crushing  force  of  the  great  three-deckers.  It 
is  so  today.  The  Battle  of  the  Sea  of  Japan  did 
no  more  than  to  confirm  the  lessons  of  the  past, 
giving  tragic  demonstration  of  the  unalterable 
fact  that  the  ultimate  deciding  battle  of  a  naval 
campaign  must  be  fought  out,  broadside  to  broad- 
side, between  the  larger  ships  clothed  with  heavy 
armor  and  armed  with  the  most  powerful  long- 
range  guns.  This  has  been  the  teaching  of 
history.  But,  within  the  past  generation,  three 
engines  of  war  have  been  successfully  developed, 
agencies  of  destruction  which,  in  the  future,  are 
bound  to  have  a  potent  influence  upon  the 
struggles  for  the  control  of  the  sea.  They  are 
the  automobile  torpedo,  the  submarine,  and  the 
aeroplane. 

History,  however,  cautions  us  not  to  over- 
estimate too  hastily  the  prowess  of  these  remark- 


134  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

able  inventions.  The  moment  the  torpedo  rose 
above  the  experimental  stage,  it  was  heralded 
as  "sounding  the  death  knell  of  the  battleship." 
No  vessel  afloat  could  withstand  its  terrible 
effects;  therefore,  serviceable  sea-going  ships 
were  doomed;  and  the  pneumatic  dynamite  gun, 
which  followed  a  few  years  later,  was  announced 
as  certain  to  accomplish  what  its  predecessor  had 
failed  to  do.  Then  came  the  test  of  actual 
service,  and  both  the  torpedo  and  the  dynamite 
gun  were  shorn  of  most  of  their  terrors.1 

But  if  the  nations  of  the  world  once  again 
realize  that  the  trend  of  modern  naval  operations 
is  more  and  more  toward  the  open  sea,  and  that 
the  issues  of  future  maritime  wars  will  be  deter- 
mined in  great  fleet  engagements  between  battle- 
ships upon  the  high  seas,  where  the  submarine 
will  not  care  to  venture  and  the  torpedo  boat 
may  not  find  its  proper  sphere  of  action,  it  does 
not  follow  that  the  lessons  of  those  years  of 
experimentation  with  torpedo  craft  have  been 
entirely  futile.  On  the  contrary,  every  effort  has 
been  made  to  develop  and  perfect  the  torpedo, 
and  render  it  a  practical  weapon  that  can  be 
relied  upon  to  fulfill  its  particular  functions  with 
every  probability  of  success.  From  a  crude 
affair,  dangerous  alike  to  friend  and  foe,  the 
torpedo  has  grown  into  a  powerful  projectile, 

i  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  ram. 


X 

w 


THE  TORPEDO  FLOTILLAS  135 

seemingly  endowed  with  wise  control  over  its 
own  actions,  and  effective  even  at  battle  range; 
while  the  frail  torpedo-boat  of  the  nineties  has 
given  way  to  the  cruising  destroyer,  capable  of 
service  with  her  larger  consorts  on  the  high  seas 
of  every  latitude.  But  with  this  there  has  come 
also  a  better  appreciation  of  the  true  functions 
both  of  the  torpedo  and  of  the  vessel  that  is  to 
wield  it,2  and  a  clearer  understanding  of  the 
proper  subordinate  sphere  to  which  the  activities 
of  both  would  have  to  be  relegated  under  actual 
service  conditions. 

When  the  Americans  first  taught  the  world  the 
power  of  the  torpedo,  that  weapon  was  of  the 
most  makeshift  description.  It  consisted  merely 
of  a  powder-filled  shell,  mounted  at  the  end  of 
a  long  pole  guided  by  human  hands  from  the 
bows  of  a  picket  launch.  Yet,  crude  as  it 
was,  the  destructive  possibilities  of  the  torpedo 
received  terrible  illustration.  No  less  than  six 
vessels  were  blown  up  by  torpedoes  during  the 
course  of  the  Civil  War  of  1861,  while  twenty- 
eight  other  ships  were  sunk  through  the  agency 
of  submarine  mines.  The  effects  were  far- 
reaching.  Their  possibilities  set  naval  men  to 
thinking. 

The  modern  automobile  torpedo,  however,  was 

2  The  function  of  the  torpedo  on  board  a  battleship,  however, 
has  passed  from  a  defensive  to  an  offensive  weapon. 


136  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

evolved  from  the  brain  of  an  officer  of  the 
Austrian  navy.  His  ideas  were  crude  and 
unworkable,  but  his  experiments  so  novel  that 
they  attracted  the  attention  of  Mr.  Whitehead, 
who,  in  1864,  was  managing  an  engine  manufac- 
turing company  at  Fiume.  The  Englishman's 
mechanical  skill  in  a  short  time  perfected  and 
made  practical  the  plans  evolved  by  the  Austrian. 
From  that  day  the  new  weapon  grew  by  leaps 
and  bounds.  At  first  it  was  exceedingly  erratic 
in  its  performances,  and  its  speed,  even  for  a 
short  distance,  was  only  six  knots,  which  was 
somewhat  disappointing.  But  the  invention 
showed  such  promise  of  further  improvement, 
that  the  Austrian  government  decided  to  enter 
upon  a  series  of  experiments  with  a  view  to  dis- 
covering what  its  possibilities  really  were.  So 
impressed  were  the  British  Admiralty  that  they 
also  persuaded  Mr.  Whitehead  to  conduct  like 
experiments  in  England.  This  recognition  by  the 
first  maritime  power  in  the  world  of  the  merits 
of  the  locomotive  torpedo  had  the  inevitable 
result.  France,  Italy,  Germany,  and  the  United 
States  followed  her  example  in  rapid  succession, 
until  today  every  navy  of  importance  is  provided 
with  Whitehead  torpedoes. 

The  modern  torpedo  has  rightly  been  termed 
a  wonderful  creation.  In  its  nose  or  head  it 
carries  a  war  charge  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 


THE  TORPEDO  FLOTILLAS  137 

pounds  of  gun-cotton.  Abaft  the  explosive 
chamber  is  an  air  chamber  containing  the  com- 
pressed air  which  supplies  the  motive  power. 
Just  behind  the  air  chamber  is  located  the 
balance  chamber  wherein  is  all  the  automatic 
steering  apparatus  for  directing  the  horizontal 
rudders,  and  abaft  this  are  placed  the  engines 
which  revolve  a  shaft  traveling  down  the  axis 
of  the  torpedo,  at  the  extremity  of  which  are 
fixed  two  screw  propellers.  And  in  the  after- 
most compartment  is  another  small  air  chamber 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  torpedo  the  requi- 
site buoyancy  and  containing  the  gyroscope  for 
guiding  the  vertical  rudders.  Such  is  the  plan 
of  this  remarkable  engine  of  war,  which  today 
can  be  made  to  speed  through  the  water,  at  any 
desired  depth,  at  forty-two  knots'  speed,  and 
with  an  accuracy  that  is  almost  beyond  belief. 

But  the  torpedo  is  an  expensive  toy,  so  costly — 
between  five  thousand  and  seven  thousand 
dollars — that  no  navy  can  afford  to  expend  a 
large  number  of  them  even  for  the  purpose  of 
drilling  the  men  who  have  to  fire  them  in  battle. 
Yet  such  training  is  essential  to  success,  and  the 
problem  that  long  confronted  the  service  was 
how  to  do  this  without  incurring  the  risk  of 
losing  the  torpedoes  every  time  they  were  fired 
in  practice.  The  use  of  a  small  calcium  phos- 
phide torch,  secured  within  the  practice  head 


138  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

(used  in  times  of  peace  instead  of  the  war  head 
containing  the  high  explosives),  finally  solved 
this  important  question.  Now  it  is  possible  to 
fire  a  torpedo  exactly  as  it  would  be  in  actual 
service,  for  the  torpedo,  after  expending  all  its 
air,  will  rise  to  the  surface  and  there  float, 
revealing  its  position  by  a  trail  of  smoke  in  the 
daytime,  and  a  bright  calcium  flame  at  night. 
The  most  serious  obstacles  to  accurate  torpedo 
firing — its  prohibitive  cost  and  the  enforced  lack 
of  practice — have  been  surmounted. 

Previous  to  firing,  the  various  parts  of  the 
torpedo  have  to  be  carefully  adjusted.  The  air 
chamber  is  charged  with  air  at  2,250  pounds 
pressure,  which,  the  moment  the  weapon  is 
launched,  is  automatically  fed  into  the  cylinders 
of  the  engine.  Then  the  torpedo  is  loaded  into 
the  tube,  the  tube  door  is  closed  upon  it,  and  the 
firing  mechanism  adjusted  preliminary  to  eject- 
ing the  torpedo  into  the  water.  All  is  then  in 
readiness.  The  pointer  takes  his  seat  on  top  of 
the  tube,  training  it  by  means  of  a  steering  wheel, 
and  keeping  his  telescope  fixed  upon  the  target. 
Two  essential  factors  still  have  to  be  taken  into 
consideration  before  accuracy  of  fire  can  be 
assumed,  and  these  are  the  making  of  due  allow- 
ance, when  firing,  for  the  speed  of  the  torpedo, 
and  the  speed  and  course  of  the  enemy,  which 
will  not  remain  immovable  to  await  the  fast- 


THE  TOEPBDO  FLOTILLAS  139 

approaching  missile.  These  difficulties  an 
ingenious  device,  called  a  " director,"  has  suc- 
cessfully overcome,  and  all  three  can  be  mechan- 
ically solved  in  a  few  seconds  when  the  moment 
for  action  is  at  hand.  The  minute  the  cross-wires 
of  the  pointer's  telescope  are  "on,"  the  firing 
key  is  pressed.  The  compressed  air  charged  in 
the  tube  door  acts  as  an  impulse  charge  and 
forces  the  torpedo  through  the  open  end  of  the 
tube  at  the  rate  of  about  thirty-five  feet  a  second. 
As  the  torpedo  leaves  the  tube,  the  starting  valve 
is  released,  the  engine  begins  to  turn  over,  and 
the  throttle  automatically  opens  wide.  The 
torpedo  is  thus  launched  on  its  death-dealing 
mission.3 

The  adoption  of  the  torpedo  as  a  weapon  of 
naval  warfare  was  immediately  signalized  by  the 
advent  of  a  class  of  vessel  utterly  unlike  any 
which  had  hitherto  figured  in  the  navy  lists  of 
any  country.  It  was  seen  that  in  order  to  give 
torpedoes  a  wide  sphere  of  usefulness,  it  was 
necessary  to  build  vessels  of  such  a  type  that 
these  deadly  weapons  could  be  brought  to  bear 

«  A  single  torpedo  striking  a  battleship  in  her  vulnerable  under  - 
body  would  not,  however,  sink  her.  The  injury  caused  by  the 
explosion  of  the  gun-cotton  charge  would  merely  result  in  the 
flooding  of  a  number  of  the  many  water-tight  compartments  into 
which  her  hull  was  divided,  an  injury  that  in  time  could  be 
repaired — yet  an  injury  that  might  keep  her  out  of  the  line  of 
battle  long  enough  to  ensure  a  distinct  gain,  and  perhaps  victory, 
to  the  enemy. 


140  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

with  every  chance  of  success  yet  with  the 
minimum  of  risk.  The  simple  mode  of  firing 
torpedoes  from  the  larger-sized  ships  presented 
too  few  opportunities  of  using  them  to  advantage 
offensively.  What  was  needed  was  a  vessel  of 
great  speed  and  extreme  handiness,  which,  on 
account  of  its  smallness  of  size  and  inconspicu- 
ousness  of  shape,  could  steal  in  on  an  unfriendly 
ship,  under  cover  of  darkness,  and  fire  her 
torpedo  without  being  discovered.  The  range  of 
the  torpedo,  even  in  the  latter  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  was  very  short,  so  that  surprise 
was  the  essence  of  the  torpedo-boat's  being — 
surprise  and  ability  to  get  within  torpedo  range 
before  the  dreaded  guns  of  her  antagonist  could 
pick  her  out. 

The  earliest  torpedo-boats  were  diminutive 
craft,  mere  steam  cutters  or  pinnaces  fitted  with 
spar  torpedoes,  and  of  such  limited  speed  that 
their  activities  were  confined  chiefly  to  sheltered 
waters.  Their  value,  therefore,  was  very  prob- 
lematical. The  first  boat  built  solely  for  torpedo 
use  was  launched  in  1873  for  the  Norwegian 
government.  It  was  a  frail  little  thing,  fifty-seven 
feet  long  and  seven  feet  wide.  But  by  1878  the 
length  of  the  boats  built  had  increased  to  eighty- 
four  feet,  and  in  1886  to  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet,  the  speeds  ranging  from  eighteen  to 
twenty-one  knots.  That  was  the  year  in  which 


THE  TORPEDO  FLOTILLAS  141 

the  United  States  navy  acquired  its  first  vessel 
of  the  type,  the  Stiletto,  built  by  Herreshoff  at 
Bristol,  Rhode  Island.  We  were  very  proud  of 
her  in  those  days ;  yet  she  displaced  barely  thirty 
tons  and  steamed  only  a  trifle  over  eighteen  knots. 
Yet  this  was  only  the  beginning.  By  the  time 
the  torpedo-boat  had  been  satisfactorily  devel- 
oped, and  each  power  had  acquired  a  fleet  of 
them,  the  necessity  arose  for  a  new  type  of 
warship — a  vessel  fast  enough  to  overhaul  and 
destroy  these  frail  yet  dangerous  pests.  At  first 
this  new  type  was  looked  upon  merely  as  a 
torpedo-boat  catcher,  swift  of  speed  and  heavily 
armed.  But  before  long  it  became  evident  that 
much  more  would  be  gained  by  adhering  to  the 
old  type  of  vessel,  while  increasing  their  size, 
thus  rendering  them  more  seaworthy  and 
enabling  them  to  keep  the  open  sea  when  the 
smaller  craft  would  be  restricted  to  operations 
near  shore.  This  spelled  the  doom  of  the  old 
torpedo-boat.  The  "destroyer"  now  became  the 
class  favored  by  naval  experts,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  the  value  of  their  new  selection  was 
tested  under  actual  war  conditions.  The  war 
with  Spain  and  the  Russo-Japanese  conflict  put 
the  torpedo  craft  to  new  uses.  With  the  exception 
of  a  few  brilliant  dashes,  their  services  were 
solely  those  of  dispatch  boats,  and  for  scouting 
and  other  duties  which  took  them  upon  the  high 


142  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

seas  and  called  for  extended  cruising.  Practically 
all  the  work  for  which  the  unprotected  cruisers 
had  formerly  been  intended  devolved  upon  these 
frail  craft,  until  their  sphere  of  operations 
assumed  such  proportions  that  the  necessity  of 
greater  displacement  and  better  sea-keeping 
qualities  became  imperative. 

Compared  with  the  torpedo-boats  used  by  our 
navy  in  the  war  with  Spain,  the  present-day 
destroyers  loom  as  big  as  ocean  liners.  Instead 
of  flimsy  "boats"  of  one  hundred  tons  we  now 
have  swift  one-thousand-ton  sea-going  "ships.'* 
Long  and  narrow — abnormally  long  in  proportion 
to  their  beam — with  a  high-built  forecastle  to  take 
the  heavy  seas  when  steaming  at  full  speed,  and 
squat,  slanting  funnels,  they  look  every  bit  the 
slinking,  lurking  "sea  dogs  of  war."  At  twenty- 
five  knots'  speed  they  can  creep  along,  silently 
and  without  causing  smoke  or  wave,  while  their 
radius  of  action  is  such  that  they  can  cover  over 
three  thousand  miles  without  having  to  refuel, 
and,  in  case  of  need,  they  can  speed  one-fourth 
that  distance  in  forty  hours. 

Tactically,  destroyers  are  employed  in  groups 
to  attack  the  enemy's  battleships  at  night.  At 
full  speed  they  sally  forth,  in  wedge-shaped 
formation,  until,  at  intervals  of  half  a  mile  from 
one  another,  they  scour  the  seas  in  search  of  their 
quarry.  Anxious  eyes  scan  the  horizon  for  a 


•    '•    >jj 

•       '  /  *; 
•    »,  ,  '  j 

.  ,  ; 

' 

" 
' 


THE  TORPEDO  FLOTILLAS  143 

glimpse  of  the  tell-tale  periscopes  of  the  enemy's 
submarines,  should  they  be  venturing  from  the 
protection  of  their  own  fleet.  The  far-flung  fan- 
tail  screen  has  then  a  double  role  to  play — that 
of  attacker  and  that  of  defender — since  it  best 
can  clear  the  area  about  its  own  fleet  of  an 
enemy's  torpedo  flotilla  and  protect  it  from 
attack  under  cover  of  mist  or  dark  by  this  most 
dreaded  of  all  forms  of  naval  warfare.  Still  on 
they  rush,  tearing  through  the  water  at  a  speed 
of  fifty  feet  a  second.  The  enemy's  fleet  has 
loomed  up  out  of  the  obscuring  mist.  The 
destroyers  fling  themselves  upon  the  surprised 
battleships.  Bows  on,  they  approach,  rushing 
into  the  blinding  rays  of  the  enemy's  searchlights, 
yet  displaying  so  thin  a  black  wedge  to  the 
enemy's  gunners,  and  coming  on  so  rapidly,  that 
their  danger  of  getting  hit,  even  by  a  chance  shot, 
is  small  indeed.  Suddenly  they  throw  their  helms 
hard  over,  fire  their  torpedoes  as  they  turn,  and 
then  dash  off,  disappearing  into  the  murky  haze 
as  quickly  as,  a  moment  before,  they  had  emerged 
from  it.* 

The  destroyer,  like  the  noxious  vapor  from  a 
poisonous  swamp,  is  the  terror  of  the  night  air, 

4  Used  with  wisdom  the  torpedo-boat  becomes  a  most  powerful 
weapon;  but  used  without  practical  knowledge  of  torpedo-boat 
warfare,  the  torpedo-boat  becomes  useless  for  offensive  operations, 
and  a  weakness  and  hindrance  to  their  own  flag,  as  instanced  by 
the  Spanish  destroyers  during  the  Spanish-American  War. 


144  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

As  the  sun  drops  into  the  sea,  and  while  the  moon 
is  yet  beneath  the  horizon,  the  battleships  lose 
their  air  of  unconquerable  majesty  and  wish  to 
shrink  unseen  into  the  gloom;  to  be  lost  from  all 
eyes  until  the  night  has  vanished  and  the  sun 
again  rears  its  head,  or  until  the  moon  comes  to 
dispel  the  shadows  in  which  the  destroyer  is 
hiding,  ever  ready  to  issue  forth,  unseen,  un- 
heralded, and  unwelcome,  and  rush  down  upon 
its  blind  prey. 

But,  if  the  fleet  is  plentifully  supplied  with 
destroyers,  it  may  rest  easy  from  thoughts  such 
as  these.  Half  its  destroyers  can  then  be  scat- 
tered about  as  night  watchmen  to  guard  the  big 
vessels  against  the  hostile  raids  of  the  enemy's 
speed  craft,  while  the  others,  released  from  leash, 
are  launched  forth  to  attack  the  hostile  battle- 
ships and  thus  compel  them  to  restrain  their 
own  destroyers  for  their  own  protection.  And 
for  this  double  service,  four  destroyers  to  one 
battleship  is  a  proportion  none  too  generous. 

As  at  present  constituted,  the  torpedo  fleet  of 
the  United  States  navy  is  divided  into  various 
flotillas,  of  groups  of  five  destroyers  each,  one 
flotilla  being  assigned  to  each  of  the  Atlantic,5 

B  Accompanying  the  twenty -nine  destroyers  of  the  Atlantic 
Flotilla  is  a  larger  vessel,  the  Dixie,  which  shadows  her  smaller 
consorts  as  a  hen  does  her  brood  of  chickens.  She  is  the  tender 
for  the  destroyers.  Her  work  is  with  the  flotilla  only,  and  as  such 
she  stands  ready  to  render  immediate  help  to  any  of  the  vessels 


THE  TORPEDO  FLOTILLAS  145 

Asiatic,  and  Pacific  Fleets.  These  forty  destroy- 
ers are  constantly  maintained  at  sea,  except 
when  the  regularly  determined  repair  periods 
recall  them  to  the  navy  yards.  Even  in  the  depths 
of  winter  must  they  be  able  to  go  rolling  through 
the  mountainous  seas  of  the  Atlantic  or  to 
weather  the  fierce  typhoons  of  the  Pacific,  travel- 
ing from  base  to  base,  trying  out  battle  forma- 
tions, or  testing  some  new  device  of  economy  in 
fuel  consumption.  They  are  always  '  *  on  the  go, ' ' 
always  working  close  to  the  "top  notch."  Yet, 
hard  and  uncomfortable  as  the  life  on  board 
these  craft  is,  there  is  no  service  in  the  navy  as 
popular  as  the  torpedo  service.  The  complicated 
manoeuvres,  many  of  them  carried  out  on  the 

that  may  be  in  need  of  assistance.  Between  her  decks  are  a 
machine  shop,  a  pattern  shop,  and  a  foundry.  In  the  machine 
shop  alone  are  thirty-two  machines,  all  independently  electrically 
driven,  and  no  repair  work  is  too  difficult  to  be  attended  to  on 
board.  As  the  destroyers'  storerooms  can  contain  only  a  limited 
amount  of  stores,  the  Dixie  carries  gasolene,  lubricating  oil,  and 
fresh  water  for  every  one  of  them.  Her  Lillie  quadruple-effect 
sea-water  distilling  plant  can  furnish  one  thousand  gallons  of 
fresh  water  an  hour,  her  electric  bake  ovens  have  a  capacity  of 
five  thousand  pounds  of  bread  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  her  ice 
plant  has  a  capacity  of  one  ton  of  ice.  Such  provisions  and  sup- 
plies the  Dixie  delivers  to  the  destroyers  daily.  The  smaller  vessels 
go  alongside  their  "mother  ship"  to  receive  oil,  fresh  water, 
"air"  for  torpedoes,  and  for  repair  work.  But  other  than  this 
their  movements  are  dependent  only  upon  the  orders  of  their 
commander-in-chief .  The  Dixie,  therefore,  occupies  a  most  impor- 
tant position  in  the  fleet.  Her  services  are  indispensable  to  the 
flotilla,  yet  her  own  work  as  tender  is  often  supplemented  by  the 
many  calls  that  are  made  upon  her  for  laying  mine-fields  or  for 
mere  ordinary  gunboat  duty. 


146  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

darkest  nights,  the  quick  dashes,  the  very  uncer- 
tainty of  it  all,  appeal  to  every  officer  and  man, 
and  afford  an  experience  and  training  that  later 
become  invaluable. 

Not  only  do  the  torpedo-boat  and  destroyer 
owe  their  existence  to  the  invention  of  the 
torpedo,  but  certainly  the  latest  of  modern  ships 
of  war,  the  submarine,  would  never  have  been 
developed  to  its  present  status  as  one  of  the 
essential  divisions  of  a  nation's  fighting  force 
without  its  incentive.  Yet  the  first  efforts  at 
submarine  warfare  seem  to  have  been  made  long 
before  the  torpedo  was  invented.  As  early  as 
1190  a  man  is  said  to  have  constructed  a  leather 
diving  boat,8  and  numerous  suggestions  were 
considered  to  enable  men  to  sink  below  the 
surface  of  the  water  in  order  to  bore  holes 
through  the  sides  of  an  enemy's  ship.  But  none 
of  these  contrivances,  when  put  to  practical  use, 
had  any  fighting  value,  and  one  after  another 
they  passed  into  history  as  nothing  more  than 
interesting  freaks. 

It  remained  for  an  American,  Eobert  Fulton, 
to  design  the  first  really  successful  submarine. 
Some  years  before,  during  our  Eevolutionary 
War,  David  Bushnell  had  completed  a  vessel,  the 
Turtle,  fitted  with  a  small  hand-screw  propeller 
and  a  detachable  powder  magazine,  but  he  was 

6  E.  A.  Fletcher :  Warships  and  their  Story,  p.  289. 


THE  TORPEDO  FLOTILLAS  147 

more  anxious  to  find  someone  else  to  make  the 
attack  upon  the  British  fleet  riding  at  anchor  in 
the  offing,  than  to  do  it  himself.  Fulton,  however, 
actually  made  several  descents  on  the  Seine,  in 
France,  in  1800,  but  when  an  attempt  with  pur- 
pose was  later  made  at  Brest,  he  failed  to  do  any 
damage  to  the  British  ships  there.  Then  came 
the  American  shoemaker  Phillips,  with  his  cigar- 
shaped  boat.  But,  though  successful  on  numerous 
occasions,  the  inventor  descended  once  too  often 
and  no  one  dared  continue  his  experiments. 
The  years  of  peace  which  followed  discouraged 
further  progress.  Then  came  the  Civil  War, 
and  with  it  the  attempts  of  the  Confederates 
to  break  the  blockade  of  Federal ' '  Goliaths ' '  that 
was  strangling  them,  through  the  medium  of 
"Davids."7  Their  first  attack,  upon  the  New 
Ironsides,  off  Charleston,  S.  C.,  was  so  encour- 
aging, that  another  vessel  of  the  type  was  imme- 
diately ordered.  But  in  five  experiments  the 
second  boat  sank  five  times,  proving  that  the 
submarine  features  of  this  class  were  decidedly 
overdeveloped.  Still  nothing  daunted,  one  more 
trial  had  to  be  made,  and  this  time  the  attack  was 
successful,  and  the  Housatonic  was  torpedoed 
and  sunk.  But  the  second  David  also  and  all  her 
crew  perished. 

The  rapidity  of  the  development  of  the  sub- 

7  The  name  given  by  the  Confederates  to  their  submarine  craft. 


148  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

marine  from  a  seeming  impossibility  to  a  familiar 
vessel,  rapidly  becoming,  if  not  now,  quite  the 
equal  of  any  other  craft,  must  always  remain 
acknowledged  one  of  the  remarkable  achievements 
of  the  present  generation,  and  this  not  only 
because  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  fact,  but 
because  this  evolution  has  taken  place  almost 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  general  public, 
owing  to  the  air  of  secrecy  which  national  govern- 
ments have  preserved  about  their  submarine 
equipments. 

When  the  United  States,  in  1893,  advertised 
for  designs  for  submarines,  three  inventors 
responded  to  the  invitation  of  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment, and  of  these  John  P.  Holland  was  the 
successful  bidder.  His  vessel,  however,  was 
never  completed,  as  she  was  planned  to  do  things 
no  submarine  can  do.  But  a  second  model,  the 
Holland,  launched  in  1898,  though  a  trifle  uncer- 
tain in  its  movements,  like  a  baby  learning  to 
walk,  lived  up  to  expectations,  and  the  govern- 
ment finally  purchased  it,  and  at  the  same  time 
ordered  seven  more  of  the  same  type,  but  of 
greater  size  and  power.  These  new  submarines 
were  to  be  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  tons 
displacement,  sixty-three  feet  long,  and  eleven 
feet  in  diameter.  For  surface  propulsion,  a  160- 
horsepower  four-cylinder  Otto  gasolene  engine 
was  to  be  used,  while  for  submarine  propulsion 


THE  TORPEDO  FLOTILLAS  149 

a  70-horsepower  motor,  fed  by  sixty  storage 
battery  cells,  was  to  be  installed.  These  were  to 
give  the  vessels  a  speed  of  over  eight  knots  when 
running  on  the  surface,  and  seven  knots,  sub- 
merged, while  the  radii  of  action  of  the  two 
propulsors  were  four  hundred  miles  and  twenty- 
one  miles,  respectively.  The  submerged  control 
was  by  means  of  stern  diving  rudders,  at  first 
pneumatically  operated,  but  later  by  hand.  Their 
armament  was  one  bow  torpedo  tube  and  five 
small  Whitehead  torpedoes. 

Since  that  date,  1900,  every  new  class  of  boat 
designed  has  marked  an  advance  in  hull  construc- 
tion and  in  propelling  machinery.  The  Adder 
class  was  followed  four  years  later  by  the 
Cuttlefish  class  of  three  boats  known  as  the  B-l, 
B-2,  and  B-3,  somewhat  larger  and  with  greater 
speed  and  radius  of  action.  These  boats  were 
so  successful  that  further  improvements  were 
experimented  with,  with  the  result  that  a  prac- 
tically new  design  was  perfected  in  the  Octopus, 
which  the  government  acquired  in  1908.  The 
boats  built  up  to  this  time  had  had  but  one  screw. 
The  Octopus  was  equipped  with  two,  revolved  by 
powerful  engines  of  a  new  design,  which  have 
since  become  the  basis  of  the  designs  of  motors 
installed  in  all  our  newer  boats.  In  fact,  the 
Octopus  was  the  first  strictly  modern  submarine 
ever  built  in  this  country.  One  by  one  the  new 


150  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

classes  followed  upon  this  now  perfected  design. 
The  D  class  of  three  boats  was  accepted  in  1909, 
three  years  later  we  had  the  two  E  boats,  the 
Skipjack  and  the  Sturgeon.  In  1912  four  more 
were  acquired,  F-l  to  F-4,  and  the  G,  H,  and  K 
classes  are,  before  many  months,  to  form  part 
of  the  navy's  submarine  force. 

This  increase  in  size,  power,  and  endurance  of 
these  submarines,  together  with  the  accumulated 
knowledge  and  confidence  which  has  all  this  time 
been  acquired  by  the  officers  and  men  in  the 
handling  of  these  sensitive  and  capricious  craft, 
is  rapidly  winning  for  the  submarine  a  confi- 
dence that  a  few  years  ago  was  shared  by  only 
a  few.  They  can  now  cruise  and  manoeuvre  on 
the  surface,  change  their  depth  of  submergence 
with  safety  and  rapidity,  and  readily  manoauvre 
submerged.  Their  tanks,  to  which  water  is 
admitted  when  they  are  submerged,  are  con- 
structed to  withstand  the  pressure  due  to  a  depth 
of  two  hundred  feet,  and  the  boats  are  fitted  with 
sufficient  air  pressure  and  pumps  to  fill  and  empty 
them  quickly.  Their  motive  power,  on  the  sur- 
face, is  the  fuel  oil  engine,  much  safer  and  more 
efficient  than  the  old  type  of  gasolene  engine, 
while  under  water  they  are  propelled  by  electric 
motors  driven  by  storage  batteries. 

In  cruising  in  harbor  or  at  sea,  and  making 
passage  from  one  point  to  another,  the  modern 


THE  TORPEDO  FLOTILLAS  151 

submarines  are  navigated  with  the  same  appli- 
ances, the  same  methods  and  by  the  same 
landmarks,  as  their  surface  consorts.  When 
"steaming"  submerged,  with  only  the  tops  of 
their  periscopes  exposed,  their  "ways"  are  the 
same,  except  that  all  their  bearings  and  observa- 
tions are  taken  through  the  periscope;  when 
totally  submerged,  their  movements  are  not 
unlike  those  of  other  craft  when  shrouded  in  a 
dense  fog.  It  is  impossible  to  see  more  than  a 
few  feet  through  the  waters  of  the  sea,  but  the 
depth  at  which  they  are  cruising  is  never  in 
doubt,  owing  to  the  use  of  reliable  pressure 
gauges,  so  that  the  distance  of  the  vessels  from 
the  surface  above  is  constantly  known  with  great 
exactness. 

Before  making  a  submergence,  the  submarines 
have  to  go  through  the  same  operation  of  "clear- 
ing ship  for  action"  as  do  the  large  ships  of 
the  fleet.  It  is  a  comparatively  simple  task.  The 
upper  decks  are  cleared  of  bridges,  deck  fittings, 
and  life  lines — all  knocked  down  and  sent  below 
within  eight  minutes.  Then,  in  a  few  seconds 
more,  the  vessels  are  completely  sealed.  The 
holes  in  the  hulls  are  covered  by  doors  with 
rubber  fittings  and  made  watertight  by  a  turn 
of  a  lever.  A  moment  later,  water  is  admitted 
to  the  tanks  in  the  hold  to  counterbalance  the 
major  part  of  the  floating  power  of  the  vessels, 


152  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

and  then  to  the  tanks  forward  or  aft  to  level 
them.  Gradually  more  and  more  water  is 
admitted,  until  the  floating  power  is  reduced  to 
from  six  hundred  to  a  thousand  pounds.  Gauges 
record  accurately  the  results  of  each  stage.  The 
submarines  at  this  moment  expose  about  ten  feet 
of  their  periscopes  and  are  ready  to  begin  a  sub- 
merged run.  The  motors  are  then  started,  and 
the  resistance  of  the  water,  acting  upon  the 
horizontal  rudders  and  the  deck,  forces  the 
submarines  below  the  surface.  Any  desired 
depth  may  be  obtained  by  giving  the  proper 
inclination  to  the  rudders.  In  fact,  the  control 
of  submarines  when  running  submerged  is  prac- 
tically the  same  as  the  control  of  surface  vessels 
when  steaming  on  the  surface. 

Life  in  such  craft,  when  under  way,  would  seem 
about  the  most  uncomfortable,  suffocating,  and 
dangerous  one  possible.  The  accommodations 
for  the  crews  seem  calculated  for  half  the  number 
on  board.  The  living  rooms  are  in  entirely  too 
close  proximity  to  the  whirring  machinery;  only 
a  thin  sheet  of  steel  separates  the  men  from  the 
terrible  torpedoes;  the  outside  water  is  so  close 
that  one  can  almost  feel  its  moisture.  But  if  all 
these  discomforts  really  existed  and  the  life  in 
these  craft  were  as  harrowing  as  has  sometimes 
been  pictured,  how  would  it  be  possible  to  get 
men  to  volunteer  for  service  on  board  them?  It 


THE  TORPEDO  FLOTILLAS  153 

is  true  that  the  bluejackets  receive  extra  compen- 
sation when  engaged  on  submarine  service,  but 
that  little  inducement,  assuredly,  would  never 
suffice.  One  thing,  however,  is  certain.  Though 
the  living  quarters  on  board  the  submarines  are 
cramped  and  none  too  lavish,  it  is  only  when 
actually  cruising  at  sea  that  these  craft  have  to 
be  continuously  inhabited  by  the  crews.  In  port 
and  at  the  navy  yards,  the  regular  tenders  of 
each  division,  such  as  the  Ozark  and  the  Tonopah 
in  the  Atlantic,  and  the  Alert  and  Mohican  in 
the  Pacific,  are  the  real  homes  of  the  men,  and 
furnish  them  with  comfortable  sleeping  and 
eating  quarters.  And  then  submarines  are  not 
nearly  so  mysterious  or  dangerous  as  some  would 
have  us  think.  Fatal  disasters  have,  it  is  true, 
occurred  with  lamentable  frequency  in  the  navies 
of  foreign  powers,  but  the  United  States  navy, 
fortunately,  has  never  yet  had  such  accidents  to 
account  for.  This  is  not  because  our  service  has 
not  been  liable  to  similar  casualties,  or  because 
our  submarines  have  escaped  only  through 
blind  luck;  but  because  of  the  excellence  of  the 
construction  and  design  of  our  models,  and  the 
precautions  taken  beforehand  against  dangers, 
by  the  Navy  Department  and  by  every  officer  and 
man  on  board. 

In  view  of  what  our  submarine  flotillas  have 
already  done  in  practice  during  times  of  peace 


154  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

there  is  little  doubt  that,  should  a  war  arise,  they 
would  be  able  to  prove  their  fighting  value.  They 
possess  every  military  characteristic  essential 
to  the  modern  ship-of-war — sea-going  and  sea- 
keeping  qualities,  invulnerability,  and  a  powerful 
and  destructive  armament.  Their  mobility  is 
shown  by  the  distances  covered  by  one  division 
during  an  eight  months'  absence  from  the  navy 
yards — 25,000  miles  on  the  surface  and  3,800 
submerged.  One  continuous  run  of  190  miles,  in 
less  than  sixty  hours,  was  actually  made,  the 
boats  making  but  two  stops  on  the  way.  And  all 
this  time  the  submarines  were  separated  from 
their  tenders  and  self-sustaining  in  every  respect.8 
The  work  of  the  submarine  flotillas  of  our 
navy,  is,  then,  one  on  which  the  boats  and  their 
crews  are  actively  engaged  from  one  end  of  the 
year  to  the  other.  Cruises,  manoeuvres,  and 
target-practices  occupy  every  moment  of  the 
time  of  the  eleven  submarines  of  the  Atlantic 
Fleet,  of  the  four  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  of  the 
six  at  Manila,  P.  I.  One  after  another  the  ports 
along  the  coasts  of  their  respective  stations  are 
navigated  on  the  surface  and  in  submerged  condi- 
tion, to  the  astonishment  of  the  native  sailormen. 
Often  thick  or  heavy  weather  is  met,  but  fogs, 

8  Yet  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that,  though  so  well  perfected, 
the  modern  submarine  has  thus  far  been  tested  under  peace  con- 
ditions only,  and  still  has  to  score  its  first  success  in  battle. 


THE  TORPEDO  FLOTILLAS  155 

gales,  and  snowstorms  have  been  time  and  again 
successfully  weathered.  All  this  has  added  to  the 
confidence  of  the  officers  and  men  in  the  reliability 
of  the  weapons  placed  in  their  hands,  and  it  is 
this  feeling  that,  above  all  else,  has  contributed 
to  records  similar  to  the  one  made  by  the  E-l  last 
Fall,  when,  while  running  twelve  feet  under  the 
surface  and  at  full  speed,  she  made  two  center 
hits  in  a  ten-foot  moving  target  at  a  range  of 
three  thousand  yards. 

What  permanent  and  definite  changes  these 
serviceable  media  of  naval  warfare  will,  in  the 
future,  make  in  pelagic  conflicts,  remains  to  be 
seen.  That  they  possess  merit  is  incontestable. 
Their  influence  is  one  that  is  bound  to  be  felt,  for 
their  presence  must  materially  determine  the 
movements  and  disposition  of  an  enemy's  battle 
fleet.  But  will  the  destroyer  and  the  submarine, 
even  with  the  aid  of  so  powerful  a  destructive 
agency  as  the  torpedo,  ever  be  able  to  displace 
the  battleship  from  her  proud  position  of  Queen 
of  the  Fleet? 


GUNNEEY  TRAINING 

The  records  of  the  past  teach  us  that  for  the 
proper  conduct  of  war  there  must  be  an  objective 
and  a  plan.  There  may  be  several  minor 
objectives,  and  a  plan  may  embrace  more  than 
a  single  operation,  but  everything  must  become 
subservient  to  the  prospect  of  attaining  the  main 
objective.  The  same  conditions  attach  to  the 
preparation  of  a  nation's  fighting  force  for  war, 
and  the  proper  training  of  its  personnel  in  times 
of  peace  for  the  decisive  conflict  that  may  at  any 
moment  arise.  The  main  objective  of  that  train- 
ing must  be  efficiency  in  war — efficiency  in  exactly 
such  essentials  as  spell  victory. 

This  preparedness  should  constantly  dominate 
the  military  art.  But,  unfortunately,  the  object- 
ive of  that  preparation  is  generally  the  most 
difficult  to  keep  in  mind.  The  further  we  move 
away  from  the  actual  experience  of  war,  the  more 
difficult  it  is  to  keep  the  essentials  in  sight.  After 
years  of  peace,  the  systems  of  naval  and  military 
training  tend  to  become  more  and  more  based 
upon  the  theorizing  of  tacticians.  Then  war 
breaks  out,  and  the  defeated  nation  is  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  tremendous  losses  it  has 


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GUNNERY  TRAINING  157 

suffered  through  indifference  to  the  fundamental 
teachings  of  forgotten  struggles.  Yet  how  often 
has  the  knowledge  thus  acquired  from  actual 
experience  been  blindly,  if  not  deliberately, 
ignored.  The  British  Navy,  with  all  the  lessons 
of  Copenhagen,  the  Nile,  and  Trafalgar  fresh  in 
mind,  found  itself  at  loss  to  account  for  the 
victories  of  the  American  cruisers  in  1812,  the 
true  causes  of  which  lay  solely  in  its  own  lack  of 
discipline,  ignorance  of  gunnery,  and  the  general 
demoralization  of  its  seamen  produced  by  uniform 
success.  But  was  the  lesson  remembered?  A 
decade  of  peace,  and  the  British  navy  had  allowed 
its  system  of  training  to  become  as  unreal  as  in 
the  period  immediately  following  the  Napoleonic 
wars.  Today  the  service  has  again  come  into  its 
own,  thanks  to  the  mailed  fist  that  was  shaken 
at  it  across  the  North  Sea,  but  before  that  date, 
only  a  little  over  a  generation  ago,  as  in  1812,  the 
true  end  had  again  been  lost  sight  of,  and  smart- 
ness at  sail  drill  was  the  only  thing  sought  after 
in  a  fleet  of  ironclads,  to  which  masts  and  sails 
were  a  useless  encumbrance.  The  rdison  d'etre 
of  the  ship-of-war  had  been  forgotten. 

1  *  In  preparing  a  ship,  and  disciplining  her  crew 
for  service,  the  fitness  of  her  battery,  skillfulness 
of  her  crew  in  its  use,  and  the  preservation  of 
her  military  stores,  should  be  regarded  as  among 
the  objects  of  paramount  importance;  for  she 


158  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

may  in  other  respects  be  well  provided,  be  clean, 
neatly  rigged,  and  have  an  active  crew,  but  if  her 
battery  be  imperfect  in  its  construction,  condition 
or  appointments,  or  if,  through  carelessness,  or 
want  of  a  proper  estimate  of  its  importance,  the 
instruction  and  exercise  be  neglected,  so  that  her 
gunnery  is  bad,  she  will  most  imperfectly  fulfill, 
in  action,  the  chief  purpose  for  which  she  is  to 
be  employed."1  The  measure  of  battle  efficiency 
of  the  ship-of-war  is  her  ability  to  deliver  the 
greatest  number  of  hits  in  the  shortest  possible 
time  after  an  enemy  is  sighted,  and  this  with  the 
least  expenditure  of  ammunition.  Her  crews 
may  have  to  be  trained  to  perform  various  drills, 
their  pride  as  sailors  may  require  that  they  be 
expert  in  seamanship,  the  conditions  of  life  on 
board  ship  may  demand  that  the  decks  be  holy- 
stoned and  all  bright-work  polished,  but  if  this 
training  and  the  many  duties  of  the  daily  routine 
are  indulged  in  to  excess,  and  their  performance 
not  properly  subordinated  to  the  true  end — of 
preparing  the  ship  for  battle — then  all  the  work 
will  have  been  in  vain. 

Early  in  its  career  the  American  navy,  thanks 
to  the  active  service  required  of  it  in  the  Eevolu- 
tionary,  French,  and  Tripolitan  wars,  was  brought 
to  the  realization  that  the  gun  was  the  decisive 

i  Simpson :  A  Treatise  on  Ordnance  and  Naval  Gunnery,  1859, 
p.  15. 


GUNNERY  TRAINING  159 

weapon  in  naval  battles.  Exercising  the  guns 
and  clearing  the  ship  for  action  became  the 
favorite  pastime  of  the  Yankee  bluejacket,  until 
the  War  of  1812  found  him  on  such  intimate 
terms  with  his  thirty-two-pounders  that  the 
English  despaired  of  ever  knowing  to  what  his 
" superior  mode  of  firing"  was  due.  But  in  the 
years  of  inaction  which  followed  the  historic 
naval  engagements  of  that  war,  the  service  forgot 
the  very  lessons  it  had  inflicted  upon  its  powerful 
rival.  "  Frippery  and  gimcrack"  were  carried 
on  to  a  shameful  extent,  and  gunnery  came  to  be 
overlooked  more  and  more,  until  the  Civil  War 
found  our  sailors  as  little  prepared  for  real  action 
as  the  Guerriere's  had  been  on  the  day  they  met 
the  Constitution. 

The  present-day  revival  of  gunnery  in  the 
American  navy,  however,  dates  from  more  recent 
times.  The  first  opportunity  afforded  our  gun- 
ners of  demonstrating  their  marksmanship  with 
modern  high-power  rifled  guns  was  sixteen  years 
ago.  Up  to  that  time,  the  conditions  were  such 
that  but  little  incentive  was  offered  the  service 
to  become  trained  as  it  should  have  been  for  the 
battles  it  was  suddenly  called  upon  to  fight.  But, 
fortunately  for  us,  the  enemy  we  met  was  not 
only  ill-equipped,  but  inefficient,  and  the  storm 
of  shot  and  shell  that  burst  upon  the  unhappy 
crews  of  Montojo  and  Cervera  completed  their 


160  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

demoralization.  Yet,  in  spite  of  these  over- 
whelming victories,  our  gunnery  had  been  poor, 
very  poor.  Out  of  the  total  number  of  projectiles 
fired  at  the  Spanish  squadron  at  Santiago,  at 
what  today  would  be  considered  point-blank 
range,  not  more  than  three  and  a  half  per  cent 
touched  the  enemy's  vessels.  The  real  test  of 
the  ability  of  our  gunners  to  hit  a  target  under 
all  conditions  had  been  a  keen  disappointment. 
Something  was  wrong;  immediate  improvement 
was  imperative. 

Owing  to  the  conservatism  of  those  in  authority, 
it  was  some  years  before  the  existing  conditions 
were  remedied.  The  moment  the  change  came, 
the  rejuvenation  of  American  naval  gunnery 
began.  Thanks  to  the  inventive  genius  of  an 
officer  of  the  British  navy,  that  service  had,  some 
years  before,  surprised  the  world  with  remark- 
able records — percentage  of  hits  of  80  per  cent 
by  the  vessel  under  his  command,  when  the 
average  for  the  fleet  was  only  28  per  cent2 — and 
we,  in  our  turn,  were  able  to  take  advantage  of 
this  movement  of  reform  and  adopt  the  new 
system  on  board  our  own  ships.  This  was  in 
1902.  With  this  beginning  in  scientific  gunnery 

2  What  this  improvement  really  meant  was,  that  that  officer, 
in  raising  the  percentages  of  his  vessel's  gunnery  from  28  per 
cent  to  80  per  cent,  had  more  than  trebled  the  value  of  his  ship 
in  action,  and  that  he  might  be  said  to  have  added  two  large 
cruisers  to  the  British  fleet  at  no  cost. 


GUNNERY  TRAINING  161 

training  came  an  era  of  intelligent  and  enthu- 
siastic application  of  principles  never  before 
possible,  and  it  is  due  to  this,  and  to  the  energy 
and  zeal  with  which  the  new  methods  of  training 
have  been  studied  and  developed,  that  the  United 
States  navy  of  today,  in  hard,  quick  hitting,  is 
second  to  none. 

How  has  this  been  accomplished?  By  arming 
our  ships  with  the  best  weapons  and  fitting  them 
with  the  best  and  most  modern  ordnance  equip- 
ment, by  diligent  drill  and  constant  training,  by 
the  proper  development  of  the  battery  and  turret- 
divisions,  each  a  basic  unit  of  the  ship's  organi- 
zation, and  by  an  appreciation  of  the  truth  of 
the  maxim  that  no  ship  can  profitably  engage  in 
target-practice  or  even  fire  a  few  rounds  until 
her  individual  gun-crews  have  been  trained  to  a 
high  degree  of  efficiency  and  every  man  of  them, 
from  the  turret-captain  down  to  the  youngest 
member  of  the  handling-room  ammunition-crew, 
can  perform  his  small  share  of  the  work  with 
clock-like  precision.  Until  this  is  so,  the  ship  is 
not  ready  to  fire  a  single  shot;  and  this  elemen- 
tary training  requires  money,  labor,  and  time. 

A  sailor's  preparation  for  battle  begins  the 
moment  he  comes  aboard  ship.  Within  half  an 
hour  of  his  arrival,  he  has  been  assigned  a  station 
at  a  gun,  with  an  older  man  to  instruct  him  in  his 
duties.  Then  his  training  commences.  The  new 


162  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

recruit  is  carefully  observed  by  each  of  his 
immediate  superiors.  He  is  studied  both  as  to 
his  mental  and  physical  fitness  for  the  various 
stations  of  pointer,  trainer,  sight-setter,  plugman, 
loader,  shellman,  and  powderman,3  and  then  he 
is  tried  out  at  the  duty  for  which  he  seems  best 
fitted.  If  he  gives  promise  of  being  able  to  do 
well  the  thing  for  which  he  has  been  selected, 
more  thorough  detailed  instructions  follow  the 
preliminary  drills.  He  is  taught  each  element 
of  his  duty,  and  required  to  perform  each  opera- 
tion over  and  over  again.  Even  the  smallest 
details  are  most  carefully  impressed  upon  him, 
for,  in  the  practicing  of  these  little  matters,  which 
he  would  otherwise  be  likely  to  consider  of  no 
consequence,  he  is  taught  to  avoid  the  mistakes 
of  others  schooled  by  actual  experience.  Thus 
far  every  motion  has  been  executed  deliberately 
and  with  care.  But  the  moment  the  officer  is 
satisfied  that  his  man  has  acquired  accuracy  and 
confidence,  there  begins  a  process  aiming  at  a 
systematic  increase  in  the  speed  of  each  operation, 

8  The  pointer  and  trainer  are  the  members  of  the  gun-crew  who 
aim,  elevate,  depress,  and  train  the  gun,  and  the  pointer,  in  addi- 
tion, fires  the  piece  at  the  given  signal;  the  sight -setter  keeps  the 
lateral  and  elevation  sights  of  the  gun  accurately  and  exactly 
as  he  is  ordered;  the  plugman  opens  and  closes  the  breech-plug, 
inserts  the  primer,  and  cocks  the  firing  lock;  the  loaders  ram 
home  the  shell  and  powder-bags  after  they  have  been  placed  on 
the  loading  tray;  the  shellman  and  powderman  handle,  respec- 
tively, the  projectiles  and  powder -bags  and  place  them  upon  the 
loading  tray. 


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GUNNERY  TRAINING  163 

since  intelligent  rapidity  at  drill  is  essential  to 
an  intelligent  rapidity  that,  in  battle,  must  be 
mechanical. 

Then  comes  the  next  stage  in  the  training.  No 
sooner  has  each  member  of  the  gun-crew  been 
developed  in  the  performance  of  his  individual 
duties  as  pointer,  sight-setter,  plugman,  or  loader, 
than  the  several  individual  units  are  fitted  into 
a  homogeneous  crew.  Each  man  is  shown  just 
where  his  own  duties  dovetail  those  of  the  other 
members  of  the  crew.  This  team-work  is  carried 
on  slowly  at  first,  to  develop  co-operation  and 
overcome  every  tendency  of  interference,  and 
teach  each  man  to  fit  into  his  proper  place 
naturally,  almost  mechanically.  Every  useless 
movement  is  eliminated,  and  every  physical 
feature  of  gun,  mount,  ammunition  hoist,  and 
sight  is  carefully  studied,  until  perfection  has 
been  attained. 

How  much  of  this  perfection  has  been  due  to  the 
navy's  use  of  the  t l dummy  loader"  invented  in 
1903,  only  the  service  itself  can  fully  appreciate. 
Formerly  loading-drills  had  to  be  classed  among 
the  most  expensive  of  a  navy's  pastimes.  Few 
guns  could  survive  many  years  of  such  hard 
usage,  and  their  breech-blocks  were  soon  worn  by 
the  constant  slamming  and  denting  of  the  quickly 
thrown  shells.  But  a  marked  economic  improve- 
ment resulted  from  this  timely  invention  in  the 


164  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

saving  of  the  life  of  the  costly  guns.  The  new 
device  was  a  facsimile  of  the  breech  and  powder- 
chamber  of  the  piece,  to  the  point  where  the  rifling 
begins.  Loading  it  required  motions  identical  to 
those  employed  in  loading  and  firing  the  real 
weapons,  and  the  same  shells  and  powder-bags 
(dummy  ones,  of  course,  filled  with  sand)  were 
used.  The  shellman  had  to  have  the  same 
strength  and  dexterity;  the  primerman  had  to  be 
quick  and  accurate ;  the  plugman  needed  the  same 
cat-like  spring  to  "man  the  plug"  properly.  In 
no  time  the  men  themselves  became  enthusiastic 
over  the  "sport."  They  quickly  became  expert 
in  lifting,  handling,  and  loading  the  heavy  shells, 
and  developed  record  times  for  elements  of  gun 
service  and  operation  that  were  truly  little  short 
of  marvelous.  In  a  trifle  over  two  seconds  the 
heavy  breech  plug  is  now  swung  open  and  to 
one  side;  in  three  and  two-fifths  seconds  the 
steel  projectile,  weighing  870  pounds,  is  firmly 
"seated,"  and  in  less  than  five  seconds  more  the 
four-bag  powder-charge  is  rammed  home.  Then 
half  a  second  follows  before  the  loading-tray  can 
be  removed;  another  two  and  four-fifths  seconds 
elapse  while  the  breech  plug  is  being  locked,  and 
the  primer  inserted — all  this  in  less  than  a 
fourth  of  a  minute. 

To  the  crack  gun-crews  of  1861  such  records 
would    have    seemed    incredible.      No    IX-inch 


GUNNERY  TRAINING  165 

smooth-bore  of  that  day  could  have  been  handled 
so  rapidly.  Even  as  late  as  1886  the  time  in 
which  that  weapon,  weighing  nine  thousand 
pounds  and  firing  a  72-pound  shell,  could  be 
served  from  fire  to  fire  was  carefully  noted  as 
not  less  than  one  minute  and  twenty  seconds, 
while  the  best  record  made  up  to  that  time  by  a 
picked  gun-crew  was  forty-three  seconds  between 
fires — a  record  that  was,  however,  discouraged 
as  dangerous  to  both  gun  and  crew.  But  the 
IX-inch  smooth-bore  and  the  other  weapons  in 
use  in  our  navy  up  to  the  Civil  War,  and  even 
into  the  days  of  the  Spanish- American  War,  bore 
little  resemblance  to  the  guns  with  which  we  are 
today  arming  our  Dreadnoughts  and  Super- 
dreadnoughts.  They  resembled  more  the  cannon 
with  which  Philip  of  Spain  crowded  the  gun- 
ports  of  his  galleons  in  the  days  of  Drake  and 
Howard,  and,  except  for  the  improvements  made 
in  sights  and  gunpowder,  the  Yankee  tar  of  the 
nineteenth  century  had,  after  all,  but  little  over 
the  red-turbaned  buccaneer  of  the  Spanish  Main. 
The  American  bluejacket's  reliance  in  1861,  as 
in  1812,  was  the  nine-foot-long  32-pounder, — 
weighing  54  cwts.,  and  firing  a  332-pound  iron 
ball  with  an  11-pound  brown  powder  charge, 
having  an  extreme  range  of  2,200  yards,  with, 
however,  no  possibility  of  accuracy,4 — the  long 

*  Compare  this  with  the  beautiful,  practically  perfect,  twelve- 


166  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

gun  which  the  Constitution  and  the  United  States, 
the  Wasp  and  the  Hornet,  had  used  with  such 
telling  effect.  Every  four  minutes,  the  log-book 
of  the  Constitution  tells  us,  Old  Ironsides  could 
fire  her  broadsides,  and  fire  them  with  clock-work 
regularity.  Deliberate  firing,  we  would  call  it, 
but  hardly  deliberate  it  would  seem,  when  we 
consider  the  guns  and  the  carriages  on  which  the 
pieces  were  mounted,  or  the  manner  in  which  both 
had  to  be  handled.  Even  in  1861  these  guns  were 
mounted  on  heavy,  clumsy  wooden  carriages  such 
as  crowded  the  gun-decks  of  the  Victory  at 
Trafalgar,  carriages  on  wheels,  pulled  this  way 
and  that  by  ordinary  tackles,  and  trained  with 
handspikes  and  elevated  and  depressed  by  means 
of  a  wooden  triangle,  called  a  "quoin,"  shoved 
in  under  the  breech  to  keep  the  gun  at  the  desired 
angle. 

Nor  would  such  records  as  today  are  made 
have  been  possible  with  the  13-inch  breech-loaders 
with  which  the  Oregon  and  the  Indiana  were 
armed  in  1898.  For  it  is  only  within  a  decade 
that  naval  ordnance  has  emerged  from  the 
experimental,  transitional  stage  that  followed  the 
introduction  of  modern  weapons  on  board  modern 

inch  steel  breech-loading  rifle  of  1913,  weighing  fifty-six  tons 
and  fifty  feet  in  length  (the  Hornet  of  1812  was  only  106  feet 
long),  capable  of  firing  an  8 70 -pound  steel  projectile  with  a 
340-pound  charge  of  smokeless  powder,  and  with  accuracy,  at  an 
extreme  range  of  24,900  yards. 


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GUNNERY  TRAINING  167 

ships-of-war.  Every  feature  of  the  mechanism 
of  those  days  placed  a  limit  upon  the  speed  with 
which  the  pieces  could  be  worked.  "Groaning, 
lurching  complications"  discouraged  the  officers 
and  the  men  at  every  turn.  The  gun-sights  were 
inaccurate  and  never  intended  for  long-range 
firing,  and  were  besides  improperly  made;  the 
elevating  and  training  gear  on  the  gun-mounts 
was  poor,  and  the  breech-blocks  jammed  all  too 
easily.  But  the  spirit  of  1812,  the  true  fighting 
spirit  of  the  navy,  was  still  there.  Willing 
workers  took  up  the  task  of  remedying  the 
defects,  and  it  is  thanks  to  their  unselfish  labors, 
and  to  the  splendid  co-operation  of  their  men, 
"the  men  behind  the  guns,"  that  the  goal  has  at 
last  been  reached. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  good 
gunnery  has  been  realized  through  rapid  loading 
alone.  Team-work  and  the  quick  handling  of  the 
shells  and  powder-bags  are  essential  factors  of 
success,  but  they  are  still  only  half  the  work  of 
that  human  machinery  which  Admiral  Erben 
christened  ' '  the  man  behind  the  gun. ' '  The  skill 
of  the  pointer,  who  presses  the  firing  key  and 
releases  the  870-pound  missiles  also  had  to  be 
developed  to  secure  the  well-directed  fire  which 
Admiral  Farragut  once  said  was  not  only  essen- 
tial to  ultimate  victory,  but  also  very  necessary 
as  a  protection  against  an  enemy 's  gun-fire. 


168  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

The  method  of  training  which  has  brought  this 
about  came  to  us  from  the  British  Navy,  and 
consists  of  an  ingenious  mechanical  device, 
whereby  a  small  target  is  made  to  move  across 
the  face  of  the  gun,  simulating  the  relative 
motion  of  a  ship  under  way.  This  target  the 
gun-pointer,  sighting  his  piece  through  the 
regular  telescope-sight,  must  follow  with  his 
gun,  and  fire  at,  by  pressing  his  firing  key,  when- 
ever the  cross-wires  of  his  sight  (the  lens  of  the 
telescope  has  a  vertical  and  a  horizontal  line 
across  it)  are  on  the  bull's-eye.  A  small  card, 
pierced  by  an  electrically  operated  needle  every 
time  the  gun  is  "fired,"  registers  the  accuracy 
of  the  pointer's  aim,  and  shows  him  whether  he 
was  "on"  or  not.5 

In  this  there  has  been  a  radical  departure  from 
the  system  we  inherited  from  the  days  of  sails 
and  smooth-bore  guns,  the  invariable  rule  of 
firing  at  the  top  of  the  downward  roll,  and  the 
only  rule  known  to  navy  men  of  that  day.  The 
native  ability  of  the  gunner  then  was  the  chief 
asset  of  the  service  in  target-practice  and  in 
action.  Telescopic  sights,  adjustable  range  and 
deflection  sights  on  the  guns,  fire-control,  and  all 
the  other  refinements  that  are  now  so  essential 

B  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  British  Navy  had  such  a 
device  in  use  on  board  its  ships  in  the  early  sixties,  and  that  their 
system  was  shortly  after  introduced  into  the  French  Navy. 
(Lewal:  Artillerie  Navale,  1863,  Vol.  II,  pp.  1-3.) 


0 

Q 

o 

z 

5 
a 


c 

5 

H 

u 


GUNNERY  TRAINING  169 

to  hitting  the  mark,  were  then  unknown  quanti- 
ties. The  gunner  sighted  his  piece  by  glancing 
along  the  top  of  the  gun,  parallel  to  the  center 
of  the  bore — allowance  being  made,  of  course,  for 
the  inclination  of  that  line  to  the  axis  of  the  bore 
due  to  the  metal  being  thicker  at  the  breech  than 
at  the  muzzle,  by  the  line  of  metal,  as  it  was 
called — and  fired  at  his  own  discretion.  As  the 
ship  hovered  on  the  top  roll  of  the  sea,  with  her 
guns  pointing  skyward  just  over  the  enemy's 
royals,  he  would  make  a  rapid  mental  calculation. 
As  the  ship  began  the  downward  roll,  he  would 
set  himself  for  the  proper  moment  and,  the  instant 
he  thought  his  gun  bore  on  the  target,  pull  the 
lanyard,  and  then  trust  to  the  grace  of  Neptune 
and  his  lucky  buttons. 

But  better  ordnance  made  possible  better 
methods  of  training,  until  the  "dotter"  sup- 
planted them  all  and  initiated  the  gun-pointer  in 
the  secret  of  "continuous-aim  firing" — the  art  of 
keeping  a  gun  trained  on  the  target,  regardless 
of  the  oscillations  of  the  vessel,  during  the  whole 
or  a  portion  of  the  roll.  It  is  this  ingenious 
device  that  has  revolutionized  the  gunnery  of 
our  navy,  and  made  possible  the  remarkable 
target-practice  records  of  our  fighting  ships. 
And  what  is  more,  it  has  brought  about  a  system 
of  training  that  does  not  cost  the  country  one 
cent  for  ammunition. 


170  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

The  gun-pointer,  whose  one  ambition  in  life  is 
to  fire  his  gun  six  months  later  when  target- 
practice  begins  in  earnest,  has  taken  to  the 
"dotter"  like  a  duck  to  water.  It  has  given  him 
a  new  interest,  a  new  incentive,  in  his  work. 
Whereas  formerly  he  had  no  opportunity  of 
getting  himself  in  training  for  the  "big  game," 
now  he  has  the  "dotter"  at  his  service  for  the 
asking.  During  drill  hours  and  out  of  hours  he 
can  and  does  practice  his  hand,  eye,  and  nerve. 
With  his  eye  glued  to  the  rubber  flap  of  the 
telescope  and  his  hand  on  the  steering  wheel  and 
firing  key,  he  fastens  his  gaze  on  the  black  speck 
of  the  bull's  eye  like  a  hawk.  If  he  makes  a 
mistake  of  a  fraction  of  an  inch  the  needle  is 
sure  to  wander  out  of  the  bull's-eye,  and  registers 
a  miss  that  in  actual  practice  would  mean  yards 
off  the  target.  The  elusive  mark  must  be  kept 
in  front  of  the  waiting  needle  for  minutes  at  a 
time,  and,  to  secure  this  perfect  co-ordination 
of  brain  and  brawn,  the  tireless  practice  of  an 
enthusiast  is  requisite. 

From  a  drudgery,  gunnery  has  developed  into 
a  game  of  contest.  Every  pointer,  every  gun, 
every  ship,  and  every  squadron  has  been  placed 
upon  a  competitive  basis.  Consequently,  a  spirit 
of  rivalry  has  sprung  up  that,  from  the  first,  was 
bound  to  have  most  beneficial  results  in  what  is 
without  question  the  most  spectacular  of  contests. 


GUNNERY  TRAINING  171 

And  to  the  men,  it  is  not  only  a  matter  of  pride 
and  glory,  but  a  question  of  increased  pay. 
Prizes  are  offered  by  the  Navy  Department  for 
the  high  scores  with  turret  and  broadside  guns 
of  each  caliber.  All  the  members  of  the  crews 
to  which  prizes  are  awarded  get  a  money  prize 
amounting  to  from  five  to  twenty  dollars  each, 
while  each  gun-pointer  making  a  qualifying  score 
is  assured  an  increase  of  from  two  to  ten  dollars 
in  his  monthly  pay.  The  winning  crews,  if  their 
scores  warrant  it,  then  have  the  right  to  paint 
the  navy  ' '  E, "  meaning  excellent,  on  their  turrets 
and  gun-shields,  and  every  man  of  the  crew  is 
furnished  by  the  Department  with  a  small  letter 
"E"  to  be  worn  on  his  sleeve  for  a  year.  What 
an  incentive  these  rewards  should  be,  and  are, 
can  be  appreciated.  But  they  are  not  the  only 
thing  sought  after.  The  honor  of  the  ship  stands 
out  pre-eminently  as  the  one  thought  in  every 
officer's  and  man's  mind  while  the  competition  is 
going  on,  and  the  honor  of  carrying  the  trophy 
of  her  class  remains  more  eagerly  contested  for 
than  all  the  money  prizes  put  together. 

It  is  this  phase  of  the  navy's  work,  then,  this 
training  in  gunnery,  that  year  in  and  year  out 
occupies  the  attention  of  every  one  in  the  service 
from  the  highest  in  rank  to  the  lowest  in  rate. 
Our  record  is  still  young  in  years,  but  our  system 
has  been  so  modified  from  the  one  we  received 


172  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

from  the  British  Navy,  that  in  the  past  decade 
we  may  be  said  to  have  developed  a  system  wholly 
our  own.  Perfection  has  not  yet,  by  any  means, 
been  attained,  but  our  personnel  has  been  trained 
in  resourcefulness  and  initiative  until,  year  by 
year,  the  weak  points  in  our  methods  are  being 
eliminated  and  the  good  ones  strengthened.  It  is 
our  team-work,  team-work  inspired  by  competi- 
tion, that  has  borne  fruit,  and  it  is  this  splendid 
co-operation  between  the  commissioned  officer 
and  the  enlisted  man  that  will,  when  the  crucial 
test  of  battle  comes,  produce  more  hits-per-gun- 
per-minute  than  any  other  conceivable  factor. 


TARGET-PRACTICE 

It  is  indeed  fortunate,  in  this  age  of  great  naval 
armaments  and  extensive  warlike  preparations, 
that  the  training  of  our  fleets  and  squadrons 
should  be  based  upon  a  principle  often  proved  to 
be  sound — that  the  greatest  asset  a  naval  force 
can  possess  is  an  effective  and  accurate  gun-fire. 
For,  since  the  beginning,  notwithstanding  the 
influences  that  the  ram,  the  torpedo,  and  the 
submarine  have  at  times  had  upon  marine 
operations,  the  strength  of  a  navy  has  ever  been 
in  its  shooting — or  rather  in  its  hitting — and, 
in  so  far  as  that  has  been  good,  fair,  or  bad,  so 
has  the  navy  concerned  been  strong,  mediocre, 
or  weak.  Ships  have  always  counted  for  much — 
without  ships  no  guns  could  have  been  mounted 
afloat — and  men  have  counted  for  more ;  but  what, 
in  battle,  has  counted  the  most,  has  been  what 
those  men  got  out  of  the  guns  that  were  mounted 
in  the  ships  they  manned.  And  that  is  the  only 
thing  that  really  mattered. 

Because  of  the  crudeness  of  ordnance,  excel- 
lence in  naval  gunnery  in  years  gone  by  would 
seem  to  have  consisted  more  in  comparative 
rapidity  of  fire  than  in  actual  accuracy.  The  old 
smooth-bore  cannon  of  John  Paul  Jones's  day 


174  OUK  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

were  so  weak  that  the  ranges  at  which  battles 
were  fought  were  necessarily  very  short.  It  was 
a  question  of  yardarm  to  yardarm,  hard  pound- 
ing at  close  quarters,  when  ships  fired  broadsides 
into  each  other  at  point-blank  range,  "so  close," 
as  the  great  Nelson  himself  remarked,  "that  our 
shot  cannot  miss  the  object."  And  in  this  fight- 
ing of  broadside  to  broadside,  the  capability  of 
getting  in  two  shots  to  the  enemy's  one,  was  the 
factor  that  determined  the  victory. 

Target-practice  in  those  days,  therefore,  came 
to  be  looked  upon  more  as  a  test  of  the  agility  of 
the  gun-crews  in  ramming  home  the  powder  and 
ball  charges,  than  as  a  trial  of  the  accuracy  in 
sighting  of  the  gun-captains,  who  almost  inva- 
riably reserved  the  right  of  pulling  the  lanyards 
of  their  own  guns.  If  this  was  not  the  case  in 
our  navy  during  the  War  of  1812,  it,  at  any  rate, 
became  the  custom  in  the  years  of  peace  that 
followed  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  when  the  sole 
employment  of  our  frigates  and  sloops  was 
chasing  pirates  and  slavers  and  cruising  from 
port  to  port  to  display  the  flag  abroad.  Great- 
gun  exercises  and  target-practice,  from  realistic 
drills  held  under  conditions  as  nearly  like  battle 
as  possible,  degenerated  into  mere  shams.  The 
gun-crews  manned  their  tackles  and  swung  their 
handspikes  and  ran  their  guns  in  and  out  of  the 
gun-ports,  until  they,  and  not  infrequently  their 


Cfl 
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o 

o 


TARGET-PRACTICE  175 

officers  also,  felt  that  they  had  done  everything 
necessary  to  ensure  victory.  But  when  the  guns 
were  loaded  and  run  out,  and  the  broadside 
trained  upon  the  target,  so  many  precious 
moments  were  wasted  while  the  orders  were 
given,  slowly  and  deliberately,  to  "Handle  your 
match  and  lockstring, "  ' '  Cock  your  lock, "  ' '  Blow 
your  match/'  "Stand  by — Fire,"  that  by  the 
time  the  various  details  of  the  "manual"  had 
been  strictly  complied  with,  not  a  gun  bore  upon 
its  mark. 

The  introduction  of  the  rifled  gun,  about  the 
time  of  the  Civil  War,  and  of  the  breech-loader 
some  years  later,  completely  revolutionized  these 
revered  traditions  of  naval  gunnery.  Long-range 
firing  now  developed  into  a  contest  of  skill  in 
which  real  accuracy  became  possible1  and  one  in 
which  hitting  the  mark  was  no  longer  merely  a 
matter  of  chance.  At  that  moment,  the  moderni- 
zation of  naval  ordnance  began.  It  is  true  that 
the  full  realization  of  this  improvement  did  not 
come  until  the  closing  years  of  the  last  century, 
and  that  practical  results  were  not  obtained  until 
several  years  later.  But  a  beginning  had  been 
made,  and  that,  considering  the  centuries  which 
had  elapsed  without  material  progress,  was  a 

i  Because,  since  the  shot  no  longer  had  to  be  rammed  in  from 
the  muzzle,  a  closer  fit  of  the  projectile  in  the  bore  of  the  gun 
became  possible. 


176  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

great  deal.  The  perfection  of  breech-loading 
weapons  was  gradually  accomplished,  until  today 
we  have  such  remarkable,  finely  adjusted  mechan- 
isms that  the  old  "Long  Tom"  seems  a  crude 
toy  compared  with  the  twelve-inch  rifle  carried 
by  our  modern  battleship.  And  then  there  has 
been  the  development  of  the  telescopic  sight,  an 
American  invention,  and  the  perfection  of  various 
systems  of  fire-control,2  without  either  of  which 
accurate  shooting,  at  the  excessive  ranges  today 
practiced,  would  be  well-nigh  impossible. 

But  after  all,  it  is  what  the  men  behind  the  guns 
get  out  of  those  guns  that  counts  the  most.  This 
we  realized  in  1812,  and  appreciated  again  in 
1861.  But  in  the  period  that  followed  the  close 
of  the  Civil  War,  the  lessons  of  those  years  of 
active  service  were  quickly  forgotten.  No  sooner 
had  the  last  shot  been  fired  than  the  whole 
country  seemed  to  lose  all  interest  in  the  navy 
which  had  become  the  greatest  among  the  fleets 
of  the  world.  The  powerful  effect  of  the  blockade 
in  throttling  the  supplies  of  the  South  and  thus 
reducing  the  Confederacy  to  inanition  was  not 
yet  understood  by  the  great  majority  of  our 
people.  A  number  of  officers,  fortunately, 
remained  alive  to  the  needs  of  the  service  during 

2  The  art  of  transmitting  the  correct  ranges  from  the  fire-control 
party  in  the  tops  observing  the  fall  of  the  projectiles  to  the  guns 
in  the  turrets  below. 


TARGET-PRACTICE  177 

that  period  of  retrogression  and  urged  them  time 
and  again,  until  the  birth  of  the  White  Squadron 
furnished  the  popular  incentive  for  the  recon- 
struction of  our  fleets  and  made  possible  a  revival 
of  interest  in  naval  gunnery.  With  better  ships 
and  better  weapons  placed  at  its  disposal  by 
Congress,  the  navy  once  more  took  heart.  Even 
then,  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome  were  many. 
The  time-honored  traditions  of  the  days  of  sailing 
ships  and  ships  of  wood  could  not  be  adapted  in 
a  day  to  a  steam  and  steel  fleet.  Everything  had 
to  be  changed,  and  readjusted  to  the  new  condi- 
tions. Then  came  the  war  with  Spain,  and  the 
discovery  that,  though  the  gunnery  of  the  few 
vessels  then  composing  our  battle-fleet  was 
probably  not  inferior  to  that  of  any  other  navy 
of  that  period,  our  shooting  had  not  been  as 
wonderful  as  our  overwhelming  and  decisive 
victories  had  led  us  to  believe.  This  disappoint- 
ing realization,  however,  had  most  beneficial 
results.  In  a  few  years,  the  entire  system  of 
gunnery  practice  in  our  navy  was  practically 
revolutionized.  Hitting  the  mark  became  the 
chief  aim  of  our  officers  and  bluejackets,  instead 
of  being  merely  a  secondary  feature  of  their 
work.  A  special  office  of  Inspector  of  Target- 
Practice  was,  in  1901,  established  to  supervise 
this  important  phase  of  the  navy's  work.  Earnest 
efforts  were  made  to  ascertain  the  reasons 


178  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

for  our  failures  and  to  remedy  the  existing 
defects  in  materiel  and  in  the  development  of 
the  personnel.  Mistakes  were  made,  some  of 
them  costly,  but  the  experience  gained  was 
never  forgotten,  and  the  causes  of  error,  once 
discovered,  were  immediately  removed. 

Whereas  in  1896  a  shot  every  five  minutes  from 
a  turret-gun  and  one  shot  a  minute  from  a  six- 
inch  gun  were  considered  satisfactory  perform- 
ances, fifteen  years  later  two  shots  a  minute 
could  be  fired  with  regularity  from  the  twelve- 
inch  guns,  and  eights  shots  in  the  same  period 
from  those  of  six  inches  in  caliber,  and  this 
rapidity  of  fire  was  obtained  without  any  loss 
in  accuracy.  In  fact,  the  records  show  that  the 
navy's  percentage  of  hits  in  that  time  actually 
improved  from  three  and  one-half  per  cent  in 
1898  to  about  twenty  per  cent  in  1911,  while  the 
ranges  at  which  the  practices  were  held  had 
correspondingly  increased  from  3,000  yards  to 
11,000  yards.  All  relics  of  the  old  system  were 
gradually  abandoned.  The  small  triangular  sail, 
the  ''bull's-eye"  of  an  imaginary  target  100  feet 
by  25  feet,  which  formed  the  basis  of  our  navy's 
smooth-water  target-practices  until  the  true  navy 
spirit  reasserted  itself  in  1902,  was  consigned  to 
the  scrap  heap,  and,  instead,  full-sized  target- 
screens,  to  be  hit  and  not  merely  fired  at,  came 
into  vogue.  Little  by  little  target-practice  was 


c 
H 


O 


TARGET-PEACTICB  179 

developed  as  an  art  and  a  science.  As  each 
successive  step  was  met,  new  suggestions  were 
made  and  carried  out,  until  in  1909  the  battle- 
fleet  formally  adopted  long-range  firing  at  moving 
targets.  And  all  this  was  accomplished  during 
the  past  few  years  because  the  Navy  Department 
in  Washington  sought  the  true  solution  of  the 
great  problem  and  trained  the  men  of  the  service 
in  the  right  way  really  to  use  the  guns  with  which 
our  ships  had  been  armed. 

One  phase  of  this  gunnery  training  we  have 
already  followed,  that  phase  which  develops  the 
eye  of  the  gun-pointer,  the  acute  hearing  and 
power  of  mental  concentration  of  the  sight- 
setter,  the  strength  and  dexterity  of  the  shellman, 
and  the  agility  of  the  plugman.  But,  valuable  as 
this  system  is,  it  is  only  one  phase  of  the  training. 
It  teaches  the  gun-crews  only  how  to  "man  their 
tackles,  swing  their  handspikes,  run  their  guns 
in  and  out  of  the  gun-ports,  and  train  their 
broadside  upon  the  target."  Each  man  as  a  unit 
and  each  crew  as  a  team  have  been  trained  so 
that  each  element  has  become  a  perfect-fitting 
cog  in  the  great  gear  train,  and  each  part  has 
been  carefully  adjusted  and  oiled.  But  that  great, 
complicated  machinery  has  not  yet  been  set  in 
motion.  Not  a  shot  has  been  fired.  Practice 
under  actual  service  conditions  is  the  test  that 
still  has  to  be  met,  the  practice  in  which  the 


180  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

efforts  of  every  officer  and  every  man,  from  the 
admiral  on  the  bridge  down  to  the  coal  passer  in 
the  fire-room  and  the  bluejacket  in  the  ammuni- 
tion  handling-room,  are  concentrated  to  attain  the 
ultimate  purpose — battle  efficiency. 

In  order  to  bring  out  this  co-ordination  of  all 
the  units  with  the  least  effort,  our  navy  has 
established  a  series  of  practices,  a  kind  of ' '  course 
of  study,"  in  which  each  of  the  various  stages 
is  gradually  mastered  until  the  final  practice  of 
the  year  finds  each  ship  primed  for  the  fray.  The 
setting  is  staged  on  the  Southern  Drill  Ground, 
a  patch  of  the  ocean  particularly  free  of  traffic, 
off  the  Virginia  Capes,  within  the  area  bounded 
by  Latitudes  36°  45'  and  36°  55'  N.,  and  Longi- 
tudes 75°  35'  and  75°  45'  W.  Here  the  entire 
battle-fleet  assembles  each  spring  and  fall,  imme- 
diately following  the  winter  and  summer  exercises 
in  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  in  Narragansett  Bay 
respectively. 

The  first  of  these  practices  is  Elementary 
Target-Practice,  which,  as  its  name  implies,  is 
a  demonstration  of  the  fundamentals  of  gunnery. 
Until  a  few  years  ago  it  was  always  held  in 
smooth  water  and  with  anchored  targets,  but  now 
the  firing  takes  place  in  the  open  sea,  at  a  range 
of  about  two  thousand  yards,  with  small  targets 
just  sufficiently  large  to  catch  well-aimed  shots. 
All  the  guns  have  been  properly  calibrated  (that 


TARGET-PRACTICE  181 

is,  set  to  hit  the  spot  aimed  at  at  the  same  given 
range,  the  telescopic  sight-line  and  the  bore-sight- 
line  converging  to  a  point  at  that  distance),  the 
ballistic  properties  of  the  powder  are  known,  and 
the  ships  steam  across  the  range  at  set  speeds, 
firing  their  guns  individually  at  towed  targets, 
whose  speed  and  course  are  also  known.  Thus 
all  the  conditions  are  accurately  known,  except 
the  personal  equation  of  the  man.  It  is  to  deter- 
mine this,  to  test  the  value  of  the  weeks  of 
systematic,  detailed  training,  that  this  practice  is 
held.  Only  one  gun  is  fired  at  a  time,  and  each 
pointer  fires  at  his  own  target.  Accuracy  and 
rapidity  of  fire  are  sought,  but  accuracy  is  desired 
above  all,  for  to  qualify  as  gun-pointer  a  very 
high  percentage  of  hits  is  required.  It  is  the  one 
practice  of  the  year  in  which  the  gun-crews,  the 
gun-divisions,  and  the  ships,  are  keenly  pitted 
against  one  another.  The  guns  of  large  caliber 
are  fired  in  the  daytime,  while  the  smaller  guns 
fire  at  night,  under  conditions  similar  to  those 
they  would  encounter  in  repelling  the  attacks  of 
torpedo  craft. 

That  the  competition  in  elementary  practice 
may  be  equally  fair  and  favorable  to  all  the  gun- 
pointers,  and  that  the  conditions  of  sea  and 
weather,  in  so  far  as  possible,  shall  be  the  same 
for  all  the  ships,  every  effort  is  made  to  assemble 
all  the  vessels  of  each  fleet  which  is  to  conduct 


182  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

the  firing.  The  practice  of  each  ship  is,  therefore, 
held  in  the  presence  of  all  her  consorts,  the 
record  of  each  gun-crew  is  intently  watched  by 
all  the  other  crews  in  the  fleet.  The  competition 
and  interest  thus  aroused  furnish  an  incentive 
never  possible  under  the  old  regime. 

Having  trained  the  individual,  developed  the 
gun-crew,  perfected  the  mechanism,  and  learned 
from  the  elementary  practice  what  to  expect 
under  favorable  conditions  from  the  firing  of  the 
individual,  the  navy  next  enters  upon  the  final 
stages  of  the  training  for  battle  efficiency.  The 
forms  of  firing  now  become  more  and  more 
advanced  in  character,  the  conditions  are  not  the 
same  for  all  the  ships,  and  competition  is  sacrificed 
to  realism.  It  is  real  Battle-Practice.  The  firing 
vessels  have  no  knowledge  of  the  course,  speed, 
or  distance  of  the  moving  target.  The  only 
known  factor  is  that  somewhere  on  the  horizon 
at  a  distance  of  a  dozen  miles  are  columns  of 
smoke  which  mark  the  enemy  at  which  they  are 
to  shoot.  At  full  speed,  the  firing  ships  steam 
toward  their  targets,  and,  when  within  range, 
open  fire  at  whatever  distance  they  choose,  the 
minimum  range,  however,  being  strictly  defined 
by  the  rules.  The  turret  and  main  battery  guns 
are  fired  together,  two  at  the  same  instant  in 
"salvos,"  and  then  all  simultaneously.  The 
whole  practice  is  completed  in  four  minutes, 


TARGET-PRACTICE  183 

precious  moments  indeed,  for,  if  a  ship  fails  to 
make  a  qualifying  score,  she  has  no  other  chance 
to  make  good. 

Then  comes  Divisional  Practice,  the  final  step 
in  the  development  of  the  fleet  for  action,  and  by 
far  the  most  spectacular  and  most  imposing  phase 
of  the  whole  work.  The  ships  of  each  battleship 
division  are  formed  in  line  of  battle,  making  their 
approach  and  delivering  their  fire  under  actual 
battle  conditions.  No  possible  elements  of  real- 
ism are  omitted.  The  silhouettes  of  the  towing 
ship  and  its  tow  of  targets,  representing  the 
battleship  division  of  the  enemy  which  the  firing 
ships  are  to  engage,  are  barely  visible.  But,  at 
the  signal  from  the  admiral  commanding  the 
division,  the  ships  let  loose  the  full  power  of 
their  tremendous  broadsides,  following  every 
move  of  the  flagship  and  simultaneously  obeying 
her  signals.  The  control  of  the  division  has  at 
last  been  obtained  so  that  all  the  guns  can  be 
used  as  a  unit. 

How  even  a  single  hit  is  registered  at  the 
excessive  ranges  of  the  battle  practices  of  today 
is,  to  the  landsman,  inconceivable.  Even  the  navy 
man  of  a  decade  ago  would  have  thought  it 
preposterous.  But  in  that  day  the  ordnance 
material  now  mounted  on  board  our  ships  had 
not  yet  been  developed,  the  "dotter"  and  the 
" loading  machine"  had  only  recently  been 


184  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

introduced,  the  telescopic  sight  had  not  been  per- 
fected, and  the  science  of  properly  directing  a 
vessel's  fire  was  still  in  its  infancy.  Remove  from 
our  navy  any  of  these  assets,  remove  only  the 
telescopic  sight,  and  the  range  of  the  batteries 
of  our  Dreadnoughts  would  be  reduced  to  one- 
fourth  their  present  limit. 

Twenty-three  years  ago  there  was  no  such 
thing  as  a  telescopic  sight.  The  guns  of  the 
world's  navies  were  equipped  with  open  bar 
sights — the  one  at  the  breech  being  adjustable 
to  give  proper  elevation  to  the  gun — which  were 
no  more  accurate  than  those  we  had  in  the  Civil 
War.  The  sights  being  mounted  on  the  guns 
themselves  precluded  any  possibility  of  accurate 
aim  at  the  moment  the  piece  was  fired,  owing  to 
the  violent  recoil  of  both  gun  and  gun-carriage. 
Then  came  the  invention  of  the  telescopic  sight, 
and  its  practical  test  on  board  the  gunboat 
Yorktown,  in  1892.  But  its  superiority  over  the 
old  open  bar  sight  was  not,  at  the  time,  sufficiently 
appreciated  by  the  service  or  by  the  Navy 
Department.  Today,  however,  every  gun  in  our 
navy  is  equipped  with  it.  Instead  of  showing 
inexactly,  it  shows  exactly,  the  object  at  which 
the  guns  are  being  aimed;  it  clears  up  the  target 
wonderfully,  besides  enlarging  the  old  field  of 
vision  some  four  or  five  times;  it  does  not  recoil 
with  the  gun,  because  it  is  attached  to  the  mount 


Bfi 
•< 

r- 


TARGET-PRACTICE  185 

instead  of  to  the  piece  itself,  and  the  gun-pointer 
can,  therefore,  keep  his  eye  constantly  fixed  to 
the  eye-piece;  and,  lastly,  used  in  combination 
with  the  admirable  elevating  and  training  mechan- 
isms now  employed — and  thanks  also  to  the 
"dotter"  with  which  our  gun-pointers  are  being 
trained — it  enables  both  pointer  and  trainer  to 
keep  the  cross-wires  of  the  telescopes  continuously 
upon  the  target. 

But,  while  the  introduction  of  the  telescopic 
sight  solved  one  important  essential  to  accurate 
gunfiring,  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  had  yet 
to  be  surmounted,  and  that  was  the  measurement 
of  the  range  and  a  proper  control  of  a  ship's  fire 
after  the  initial  range  had  been  established.  It 
was  an  embarrassment  that  the  seamen  of  the 
old  navy  sought  vainly  to  overcome.  In  the  early 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  ingenious 
expedient  of  utilizing  a  large  pendulum  hung  in 
the  main  hatch  was  adopted  to  control  a  vessel's 
fire  when  she  rolled  in  a  seaway  and  the  smoke 
of  the  discharge  of  her  broadside  obscured  the 
enemy  from  view.  Systems  of  signals  were  also 
devised  to  secure  the  proper  angle  of  elevation 
for  the  lee  guns  or  of  depression  necessary  for 
those  of  the  weather  side.  But  our  wooden  navy 
of  1812  and  our  ironclad  fleet  of  1865  never, 
even  with  these  ingenious  innovations,  obtained 
satisfactory  results. 


186  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

Today,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  an  elaborate, 
highly  scientific,  system  of  fire-control.  To  the 
inventive  genius  of  many  do  we  owe  the  delicate 
instruments  upon  which  the  efficiency  of  the 
hitting  power  of  our  guns  has  become  so 
dependent.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that, 
in  the  firing  of  naval  guns  at  sea,  accuracy  is 
not  dependent  upon  the  expertness  of  the  gun- 
pointer  and  sight-setter  and  loading-crew  alone. 
There  are  other  conditions  which  directly  affect 
a  vessel's  gun-fire.  There  is  the  distance  to  the 
target,  the  temperature  of  the  gun,  the  condition 
of  the  powder,  the  density  of  the  atmosphere,  the 
wind,  and  various  other  factors  that  directly 
affect  the  flight  of  the  projectile.  But,  broadly 
speaking,  it  may  be  said  that  if  the  pointing  and 
the  sight-setting  are  accurately  done  and  the 
range  is  definitely  known,  a  bull's-eye  will  be 
scored. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  primary  necessity 
is  to  know  the  range  or  distance.  This  our  ships 
obtain  through  the  co-operation  of  two  important 
agencies — the  range-finder  and  the  spotter,  the 
first  of  which  determines  the  exact  ranges  and 
transmits  them  to  the  guns,  while  the  latter,  and 
the  more  nearly  human  of  the  two  agencies, 
accurately  estimates  and  quickly  corrects  the 
errors  due  to  the  conditions  already  mentioned. 

As  the  surveyor  measures  a  base  line  with  his 


TARGET-PRACTICE  187 

steel  tape,  sets  up  his  transit  at  the  ends  of  this 
line,  measures  the  angles,  and  then  calculates  the 
distance  from  the  base  line  to  the  object,  so  does 
the  range-finder  do  its  work.  Only  it  works  out 
this  mathematical  problem  automatically  within 
its  steel  shell,  and  divulges  only  the  result  of  its 
ingenious  method  of  calculation — the  distance — 
to  the  observer  operating  it.  The  length  of  the 
range-finder's  base  line  depends  upon  the  size  of 
the  instrument,  and  this,  in  some  cases,  is  as 
much  as  twenty  feet.  At  each  end  are  object 
glasses,  directed  toward  the  distant  vessel,  while 
on  the  opposite  side,  at  the  center,  are  the  eye- 
pieces for  the  observer.  The  image  received 
through  the  left  hand  glass  is  seen  by  the 
observer  in  the  lower  half  of  the  field  of  his  eye- 
piece, while  that  coming  through  the  right  hand 
one  is  reflected  in  the  upper  half.  These  images 
represent,  respectively,  the  lower  and  the  upper 
halves  of  the  vessel  sighted.  When  the  range- 
finder  is  out  of  setting,  these  two  halves  are  not 
properly  aligned,  but  by  turning  a  small  thumb 
screw,  the  observer  can  move  a  deflecting  prism 
along  the  axis  of  the  tube  and  thus  more  accu- 
rately superpose  the  images  that  have  been 
focused  by  the  glasses  at  the  ends.  The  instant 
the  alignment  is  secured,  the  observer  glances 
at  a  small  horizontal  scale  on  which  the  exact 
distance  is  indicated,  and  this  distance  is  commu- 


188  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

nicated  to  the  fire-control  station  below  deck, 
where  the  necessary  allowances  for  the  speed  of 
the  enemy,  his  course,  and  the  various  other 
factors,  are  made,  before  the  corrected  range  is 
telephoned  to  the  sight-setters  at  the  guns. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  other  spot  on  the  modern 
battleship  where  so  much  energy  is  crowded  into 
the  flying  minutes,  as  this  fire-control  station. 
It  is  decks  and  decks  below  the  conning  tower 
and  turrets,  sheltered  behind  massive  armor 
plates,  and  reached  from  above  only  by  ladders 
perpendicular  and  ladders  aslant.  The  doors 
and  walls  are  padded;  the  room  is  practically 
sound-proof.  Plotting  boards,  target-bearing 
instruments,  range  clocks,  speaking  tubes,  tele- 
phone wires,  switchboards,  and  other  devices, 
for  which  the  bluejacket  has  invented  the  all- 
descriptive  term  of  " gadgets,"  fill  the  available 
spaces,  while  on  every  side  are  range  indicators 
on  which  the  thousands  of  yards  pop  up  with 
amazing  frequency.  The  fire-control  force  is 
seated  about  the  room,  some  at  the  plotting  table 
in  the  center,  the  others  at  their  various  stations. 
From  every  part  of  the  ship  comes  news  of  the 
enemy,  of  his  movements,  of  the  range,  and  of 
the  different  happenings  in  the  turrets  and  on  the 
bridge.  With  the  lessening  range  comes  a  tension 
that  defies  description.  The  orders  fly  thick  and 
fast.  There  is  a  perceptible  rocking  of  the  ship 


TARGET-PRACTICE  189 

as  the  broadside  is  fired.  The  muffled  roar  of 
the  salvos  is  heard  over  the  telephone.  Then 
come  the  corrections  from  the  spotters  in  the 
tops,  a  few  rapid  calculations  are  made  on  the 
plotting  board  on  the  table,  and  then  everything 
is  ready  for  the  next  salvo.  The  fire-control 
station  is  truly  the  heart  of  the  ship  in  action. 

But  the  accuracy  of  the  range-finder  and  the 
skill  of  the  fire-control  party  in  the  sound-proof 
room  below  would  avail  little  were  it  not  for  the 
"spotter"  stationed  in  the  top  of  the  mast,  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  above.  His  task  is 
one  that  requires  good,  strong  eyesight,  calm, 
accurate  judgment,  and  intense  interest.  For  he 
must  always  be  keenly  alive,  and  make  up  his 
mind  unhesitatingly  as  to  where  the  shots  fell, 
and  give  his  corrections  quickly  for  the  next 
salvo.  The  tension  under  which  he  will  have  to 
work  in  battle,  and  under  which  he  does  work  in 
target-practice,  is  enormous,  and  the  duty  is  one 
for  which  he  must  receive  daily  training3  in 
order  that  his  eye  and  brain  may  work  in  perfect 
synchrony.  With  glasses  glued  to  his  eyes,  he 
follows  the  falling  shot.  From  the  flash  of  the 
gun,  he  must  be  on  the  qui  vive.  Your  watch 
ticks  off  the  seconds  of  the  salvo 's  time  of  flight — 
ten-eleven-twelve  seconds.  As  the  second  hand 

s  For  this  daily  training,  without  the  expenditure  of 
tion,  a  dotter  of  fire-control  has  been  devised. 


190  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

jumps  to  thirteen  seconds,  a  group  of  fountains 
of  white  water  leap  up  about  the  target.  In  that 
instant  the  spotter  must  judge  just  how  far  the 
shrieking  shell  struck  " short,"  "over,"  or  to 
the  right  or  left  of  that  distant  mark,  and  it  is 
this  correction  which,  telephoned  to  the  fire- 
control  station  below  and  then  communicated  to 
the  sight-setters  at  the  guns,  enables  the  pointers 
to  get  on,  and  then  stay  on. 

When  the  Dreadnoughts  come  on  the  range, 
however,  all  that  personal  element  is  hidden. 
The  captain  is  in  the  conning  tower,  the  pointers 
and  trainers  are  behind  the  twelve-inch  armor  of 
the  massive  turrets,  the  gun-crews  are  at  their 
battle  stations,  the  spotters  are  concealed  from 
view  in  the  tops,  and  the  fire-control  party  is  in 
its  little  room  down  below  the  water  line.  Not 
a  human  being  is  about  the  decks.  Bails  and 
stanchions  have  been  unshipped  on  the  forecastle 
and  quarterdeck,  hatches  battened  down,  ladders 
housed,  and  life  lines  rigged.  All  the  boats  are 
swung  inboard  and  chocked  up  on  the  boat  deck, 
while  below  cabin  doors  have  been  stowed  away 
in  the  passages,  pictures  and  electric  fans  laid  flat 
on  the  bunks,  and  all  china  and  glassware  put 
away  in  some  empty  storeroom  to  lessen  the 
chances  of  breakage  when  the  guns  are  fired. 

"Stand  by!"  The  targets  are  in  sight,  five  or 
six  miles  to  port.  A  string  of  bunting  runs  up 


TAEGET-PEACTICB  191 

the  Admiral's  signal  halyards.  It  is  the  order 
to  open  fire.  A  blinding  white  sheet  of  flame 
leaps  from  the  forward  turret  of  the  leading 
ship.  A  cloud  of  yellow  gas  rolls  out  over  the 
waters  and  momentarily  shrouds  the  vessel  from 
view,  and,  as  the  seconds  fly,  you  hear  a  dull, 
ominous  roar.  A  boiling,  whirling  white  column 
springs  up  in  front  of  the  target,  almost  to  the 
height  of  the  tops  of  the  towing  ship,  and  falls 
in  graceful  cascades,  drenching  the  target  raft. 
With  a  rush  and  a  roar  the  shell  goes  ricochetting, 
spinning,  with  tremendous  velocity,  until  it 
strikes  the  water  for  a  second  time  and  then 
skips  along  the  surface  for  a  few  hundred  yards 
more  before  it  finally  flops  under. 

Another  ranging  shot,  and  then  the  full  force 
of  the  ship's  broadside  is  let  loose.  The  vivid 
flashes  come  singly,  by  pairs,  by  salvos.  The 
water  about  the  target  is  whipped  into  boiling 
geysers  by  the  falling  shells.  Two  projectiles 
strike,  one  just  over,  the  other  just  under — a 
perfect  " straddle."  A  shell  tears  through  the 
target-screen,  another  strikes  the  raft  itself, 
while  a  third  carries  away  the  top  of  one  of  the 
masts. 

Inside  the  turret  the  scene  contrasts  strangely 
with  that  outside.  The  steel-walled  chamber  is 
dimly  lighted  by  the  rays  of  the  battle-lanterns. 
Its  white  interior  seems  strangely  clean  and 


192  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

peaceful.  In  the  extreme  rear  of  the  turret  is 
the  small  booth  in  which  the  turret-officer  is 
stationed.  Here  he  is  in  telephonic  communica- 
tion with  the  fire-control  officer,  and  at  the  same 
time  in  immediate  control  of  his  own  men  at  the 
guns  mounted  on  either  side  of  the  steel  bulkhead 
that  separates  the  two  pieces  so  that  an  accident 
in  one  compartment  may  not  affect  the  crew  at 
the  other  gun.  Pipes  and  tubes,  electric  bells, 
and  signal  indicators  line  the  walls.  The  breech 
of  the  great  gun  takes  up  most  of  the  available 
central  space.  The  gun-crew  are  at  their  stations 
about  it,  every  man  stripped  to  the  waist.  The 
heat  is  oppressive.  Streams  of  perspiration  show 
on  the  men's  brows.  For  the  hundredth  time,  the 
turret-captain  examines  every  part  of  the  breech 
mechanism  and  tests  the  firing  circuits,  while  the 
gun-captains  give  the  final  instructions  to  their 
men.  Presently  the  pointers  and  trainer  bring 
the  gun  to  bear  upon  the  distant  target.  The 
turret  revolves  beneath  their  feet.  "Coming  on 
the  range!"  is  the  word  received  over  the  tele- 
phone from  the  fire-control  station.  '  *  Stand  by ! ' ' 
The  visual  clicks  at  intervals,  and  the  sight- 
setters  check  their  corrections.  "Load!"  From 
the  handling  room  below  the  ammunition  car 
comes  up  with  a  rush.  The  870-pound  shell  is 
pointed  into  the  breech  and  shoved  into  the  gun 
by  an  electric  rammer  that  untelescopes  wickedly 


COMING  ON  THK  RANOK!" 


TARGET-PRACTICE  193 

and  " seats'*  the  projectile  with  a  mighty  thud 
in  the  rifling  of  the  barrel.  Four  powder-bags, 
weighing  over  eighty  pounds  each,  follow  the 
shell  into  the  breech  with  amazing  rapidity.  The 
plug  swings  smartly  home,  closing  the  breech, 
the  primer  is  inserted,  and  the  lock  cocked. 
"Beady!"  Up  where  the  pointer  stands,  abreast 
of  the  gun,  a  tiny  red  light  appears,  electric  bells 
ring,  then — a  dull  roar  and  a  sharp  jar.  The 
gun  recoils  back  three  feet  and  then  returns  to 
"battery,"  its  original  position,  with  astonishing 
ease.  The  plugman  spins  the  handle  of  the 
breech  plug,  the  1,700-pound  steel  plug  swings 
open  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  hissing  as  a  blast 
of  compressed  air  clears  the  bore,  and  then  the 
next  charge  is  loaded. 

We  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  short  life  of 
these  big  guns,  of  the  few  times  they  can  be  fired 
before  others  have  to  be  installed  to  replace  them. 
But  nowadays  much  has  been  done,  by  improved 
construction  and  through  a  better  knowledge  of 
the  powder  used,  to  greatly  increase  the  number 
of  rounds  that  can  be  fired.  As  is  generally 
known,  the  interior  of  the  gun  is  rifled,  that  is 
to  say,  it  has  spiral  grooves  in  it  throughout  its 
entire  length.  Copper  "driving"  bands  are  fitted 
to  the  shells,  and  the  impact  of  the  explosion 
forces  these  into  the  rifling  grooves,  preventing 
the  escape  of  the  propelling  gases  and  giving 


194  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

the  projectiles  the  twist  that  steadies  them  during 
their  flight.  The  terrific  energy  generated 
by  the  explosion  of  the  320-pound  smokeless 
powder-charge  in  a  twelve-inch  gun  may  be 
gauged  by  the  fact  that  the  projectile  leaves  the 
muzzle  at  the  speed  of  2,900  feet  per  second — 
with  an  energy  that,  translated  into  lifting  power, 
would  suffice  to  hoist  one  of  our  present-day 
Dreadnoughts  two  and  a  half  feet  into  the  air. 
Now,  such  a  generation  of  heat  by  explosion 
within  a  confined  space  is  bound  to  result  in  wear, 
and  the  "wash"  of  the  rapidly  moving  white-hot 
gases  tends  to  smooth  out  the  rifling.  Well- 
fitting  bands  and  "gas-checks"  on  the  shells 
somewhat  minimize  this  wear,  but  the  accuracy 
of  the  gun  must  suffer  in  the  end,  and  the  only 
thing  to  do  then,  is  to  reline  the  bore,  the  cost  of 
which  is  only  a  fraction  of  that  of  a  new  gun. 

"A  reckless  expenditure  of  the  funds  of  the 
Navy  Department!"  Hardly.  Some  of  the  Ser- 
vice's Congressional  critics  may  consider  target- 
practice  a  wanton  extravagance,  and  advance 
pet  theories  to  support  their  contention,  but 
target-practice,  nevertheless,  must  be  held.  It 
develops  the  team-work  of  the  ship  and  the  team- 
work of  the  fleet  as  no  other  exercise  can.  It 
often  furnishes  information  of  such  importance 
that  it  has  had  a  very  great  bearing  on  subsequent 
ship  designs  and  has  enabled  the  materiel  bureaus 


TARGET-PRACTICE  195 

of  the  Navy  Department  to  improve  the  designs 
of  our  more  modern  battleships.  And  target- 
practice  at  times  teaches  the  Navy  even  more. 
The  visit  to  the  fleet  of  Mr.  Harrington  Emerson, 
an  expert  in  efficiency,  revealed  to  that  interested 
critic  a  state  of  affairs  such  as  he  had  not  found 
anywhere  else  in  this  country.  Instead  of  anti- 
quated methods  and  poor  results,  Mr.  Emerson 
found,  to  his  surprise  and  delight,  the  most 
marvelous  efficiency.  He  saw  the  American 
Dreadnought  fire  a  salvo  of  twelve  12-inch  guns 
in  thirty  seconds,  while  steaming  at  full  speed, 
and  hitting  a  sixty-by-thirty-foot  target  eight 
miles  away,  with  six  shots  out  of  twelve  fired. 
One  hit  every  five  seconds!  Mr.  Emerson  was 
fascinated.  He  forgot  that  he  was  a  central 
authority  on  efficiency,  and  became,  for  the  time, 
a  student.  Are  not  the  men  and  the  methods  by 
which  such  results  as  these  are  produced  entitled 
to  respect? 

Naval  gunnery  is,  indeed,  wonderful  when  you 
consider  the  conditions  under  which  it  is  held. 
A  target-screen,  one-tenth  the  area  of  the  broad- 
side of  the  hull  of  a  battleship,  appears  as  a  fast- 
moving  dot  upon  the  windy  sea.  The  target  is 
rolling  and  pitching;  the  ship  that  is  firing  at  it 
is  rolling  and  pitching,  yet  the  target  is  pierced 
again  and  again.  The  more  you  know  about  the 
attendant  difficulties  the  more  creditable  does  the 


196  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

best  of  our  naval  shooting  seem.  But  that  best 
must  not  narrow  our  horizon.  Other  navies  are 
likewise  drilling  their  squadrons,  and  other  fleets 
are  holding  long-range  target-practice.  Our 
pointers  are  doing  good  work  on  the  Southern 
Drill  Ground  every  spring  and  fall,  but  is  their 
best  shooting  always  better  than  the  best  records 
made  by  the  pointers  in  other  navies?4  That  is 
a  question  that  only  the  test  of  battle  can  answer. 
In  the  mean  time,  every  effort  must  be  made  to 
maintain  the  high  standard  of  efficiency  devel- 
oped by  our  navy  in  1804,  in  1812,  in  1862,  and 
again  in  recent  years — a  standard  that  brought 
us  victories  in  the  past,  and  that,  if  lived  up  to, 
cannot  fail  to  bring  as  decisive  successes  to  our 
arms  afloat  in  the  future. 

4  The  battleship  Arkansas  last  September  established  a  world 's 
record  with  one  of  her  twelve-inch  turrets.  During  Elementary 
Practice  the  two  guns  fired  six  shots  in  57  seconds  at  a  moving 
target,  at  2,000  yards,  making  a  perfect  score.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  British  battleship  Centurion,  made  a  record  during  the 
past  year  with  the  Percy  Scott  fire- director  system  which,  if 
reported  correctly,  is  indeed  remarkable.  The  two  13.5-inch  guns 
in  one  of  her  amidship  turrets  fired  eight  rounds  and  scored  eight 
hits  in  2  minutes  and  35%  seconds  at  long  range,  using  a  target 
only  fourteen  feet  square. 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX  I 

That  naval  officers,  as  a  class,  are  ready  to 
undergo  any  hardship,  to  incur  any  risks,  and  to 
sacrifice  life  itself  in  the  performance  of  duty  in 
time  of  war,  or  at  the  call  of  humanity  in  time  of 
peace,  requires  no  extended  proof.  Out  of  the 
thousand  instances  which  crowd  upon  the  recol- 
lection, we  need  only  mention  Kichard  Somers, 
who  calmly  met  his  fate  in  the  mysterious  and 
awful  explosion  of  the  ketch  Intrepid  off  Tripoli ; 
Tunis  Craven  at  Mobile,  whose  ship  became  his 
coffin  because,  in  the  nobility  of  his  nature,  he 
could  not  help  stepping  aside  from  the  ladder 
which  led  to  safety  and  saying,  "  After  you, 
pilot";  John  Talbot,  who  sailed  1,200  miles  in  an 
open  boat  to  summon  assistance  to  the  ship- 
wrecked crew  of  the  Saginaw  only  to  perish  in 
the  surf  at  Hawaii ;  George  De  Long,  whose  tragic 
end  established  a  standard  of  Christian  heroism 
which  few  may  reach  and  none  may  surpass. 

The  bedrock  of  our  navy  has  been  its  organi- 
zation; its  soul,  honor;  its  demand,  courage;  its 
inspiration,  love  of  country;  its  crown,  glory. 
But  its  keynote,  its  foundation  stone,  is  obe- 
dience— and  that  also  has  been  its  ruling  impulse 


200  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

in  practically  every  instance  of  fortitude 
and  self-denial,  with  which  our  naval  annals 
abound — obedience  to  the  letter,  and  when  the 
letter  fails  to  carry  the  man  deeply  enough  into 
the  dangers  and  trials  which  beset  the  path  to  his 
goal,  the  letter  disappears  and  the  spirit  takes 
its  place  as  the  guiding  principle. 

When  Wadleigh,  in  1881,  was  looking  for 
possible  survivors  of  the  Jeannette's  crew,  it  was 
this  spirit  which  carried  him  in  a  wooden  cruiser, 
the  Alliance,  beyond  Spitzbergen — above  80 
north  latitude — farther  north  than  any  vessel 
of  her  description  had  ever  been  before;  and 
much  farther  than  such  a  vessel  should  go,  unless 
justified,  as  Wadleigh  was,  by  an  overwhelming 
if  mute  appeal.  Says  the  chronicler  of  this 
extraordinary  expedition,  "if  the  ship  had  been 
nipped,  she  and  her  whole  complement  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  men  would  have  disappeared 
from  the  face  of  the  earth  without  ever  making 
a  sign. ' ' 

The  same  fidelity  to  a  lofty  ideal  of  obedience 
joined  to  sympathetic  humanity  actuated  Berry, 
when  his  own  vessel,  the  Rodgers,  sent  to  De 
Long's  relief,  was  burnt  to  the  water's  edge  in 
Behring  Sea.  Hearing  from  the  Chukches  the 
rumor  that  strange  white  men  had  landed  some- 
where on  the  northern  coast  of  Siberia,  Berry 
started  out  with  a  scant  native  escort  and 


APPENDIX  I  4  201 

tramped  over  one  thousand  miles  along  that 
bleak  shore,  in  the  winter  season,  hoping  against 
hope  that  he  might  arrive  in  time  to  succor. 

Nor  can  the  historian  recall  a  finer  picture  than 
H.  B.  M.  S.  Calliope,  steaming  out  of  the  harbor 
of  Apia,  in  the  teeth  of  the  frightful  hurricane  of 
1889  and,  as  she  passed  the  Trenton,  the  only 
vessel  beside  herself  still  afloat  out  of  that  large 
assemblage  of  shipping,  receiving  the  cheers  of 
a  crew  gallant  and  generous  in  the  very  face  of 
death. 

When  Greeley's  fate  was  shrouded  in  mystery 
and  the  whole  country  trembled  between  hope 
and  fear  of  tearing  aside  the  dark  veil,  upon  the 
Navy  it  called  to  do  the  impossible.  And  by  it 
the  impossible  was  done.  Leaving  far  astern  of 
them  old  experienced  Arctic  voyagers,  Schley 
and  Emory  forced  their  way  in  gales  of  wind, 
which  opposed  them  with  cruel,  demoniac  fury, 
through  snow  and  ice  to  reach  Cape  Sabine  not 
only  greatly  in  advance  of  any  previous  record, 
but  at  the  very  last  instant  when  their  coming 
could  avail.  Even  twenty-four  hours  later  few, 
if  any,  of  Greeley's  party  would  have  been  alive 
to  save. 

{Happily  the  achievements  of  the  Navy  during 
are  not  always  so  tragic  and  gloomy. 


Oftentimes  they  are  humdrum,  unheralded,  over- 
looked,   almost   unknown.     And   none   the   less 


202  %    OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

valuable  are  its  many  services  of  this  kind.  In 
order  that  the  navigator  may  plough  his  way 
along  our  shores  in  security,  the  navy  mapped 
the  dangers  visible  and  hidden  and  sounded  out 
the  safe  passages  from  Calais  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
from  Tia  Juana  to  Cape  Flattery.  That  a  suc- 
cession of  able  superintendents  of  the  Coast 
Survey  have  directed  this  work  does  not  detract 
from  the  credit  due  the  officers  and  men  of  the 
navy  who,  until  1898,  in  season  and  out  of  season, 
sounded  and  took  angles  and  kept  their  parties 
busily  employed  gathering  the  facts  and  figures 
upon  which  the  cartographers  have  built  their 
worthy  and  enduring  monument.  And  the  same 
thing  is  seen  all  over  the  world  today.  Whenever 
a  ship  is  not  engaged  in  drilling  and  firing  at  a 
target,  her  officers  and  crew  rest  themselves  by 
making  surveys  of  remote  and  uncharted  waters. 

In  this  country,  the  appreciation  of  these  labors 
is  confined  to  the  few  who  interest  themselves  in 
such  matters,  but  abroad  it  takes  the  shape  of 
generous  public  recognition.  For  example,  his 
compatriots  only  know  Sigsbee  as  the  captain 
of  the  ill-fated  Maine,  but  across  the  ocean  he  is 
a  man  whom  kings  delight  to  honor  and  to 
decorate  for  his  notable  improvements  in  des1*- 
sea  dredges  and  sounding  apparatus. 

These  investigations  of  the  ocean's  secrets  are 
not  always  free  from  inconvenience  and  misinter- 


APPENDIX  I  203 

pretation.  When  Pillsbury  was  measuring  the 
width  and  depth  and  strength  of  the  Gulf  Stream, 
he  anchored  the  Blake  one  day  in  some  hundreds 
of  fathoms  by  a  grapnel  and  a  light  wire  rope. 
A  coasting  schooner  passing  that  way,  her 
skipper's  curiosity  was  aroused  by  the  sight  of 
a  vessel  apparently  stationary  in  spite  of  wind 
and  current,  so  he  tacked  under  the  Blake's  stern, 
hailed  Pillsbury  and  asked  him  what  he  was 
doing.  "Oh,  nothing  important,"  replied  the 
latter.  "I'm  just  anchored."  The  voice  of 
indignant  skepticism  came  booming  back  over  the 
sea,  "You  are  a  d — d  liar!" 

The  world  is  indebted  to  the  late  Professor 
Dana  for  his  scientific  system  of  mineralogy 
which  encountered  little  difficulty  in  displacing 
the  more  empirical  forms  by  which  it  had  been 
preceded.  But  Dana's  view  of  things  was 
broadened  by  his  years  spent  on  board  a  man- 
of-war  in  Wilkes's  Exploring  Expedition,  and 
the  navy,  or  at  least  the  opportunities  which  the 
navy  afforded,  may  rightly  claim  even  a  slight 
share  in  placing  the  laurel  wreath  upon  that 
worthy  brow. 

And  the  navy,  too,  furnished  a  painstaking 
philosopher  who  wrote  that  epoch-making  book, 
the  Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea,  which  told 
the  sailors  of  these  United  States,  and  of  every 
other  civilized  power,  how  to  navigate  the  oceans 


204  OUR  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

broad  and  the  waters  that  wash  their  own  shores. 
Is  it  not  pertinent  to  inquire  what  it  would  cost 
the  nautical  world  to  erase  the  name  of  Maury 
from  history's  page? 

And  lastly  there  is  that  great  engineering  feat, 
the  construction  of  the  Panama  Canal.  And  in 
no  other  connection  are  facts — bottom  facts — so 
imperatively  essential.  For  it  was  the  navy,  by 
its  faithful  and  laborious  study  on  the  spot  of 
the  many  suggested  lines  across  the  great  isthmus 
that  collected  the  information  and  supplied  the 
necessary  data  for  this  colossal  undertaking. 

Can  it  be  said,  in  the  face  of  such  a  record  of 
achievement,  that  our  navy  has  not  earned  the 
gratitude  of  the  American  people  as  a  civilizing 
force  during  times  of  peace? 


APPENDIX  II 


ATLANTIC  OCEAN 

ATLANTIC  FLEET 
"Wyoming  (fleet  flagship) 

First   Division:   Florida,    Arkansas,    Delaware,    North 

Dakota,  Utah. 
Second  Division:  Louisiana,  Michigan,  New  Hampshire, 

South  Carolina,  Vermont. 
Third  Division:  Rhode  Island,  Georgia,  Nebraska,  New 

Jersey,  Virginia. 
Fourth  Division:  Connecticut,  Kansas,  Minnesota,  Ohio. 

TORPEDO  FLOTILLA 

Birmingham  (flotilla  flagship) 

Dixie  (tender) 

First  Division:  5  destroyers  (in  reserve). 

Second  Division:  6  destroyers  (in  reserve). 

Third  Division:  5  destroyers. 

Fourth  Division:  5  destroyers. 

Fifth  Division:  5  destroyers. 

Sixth  Division:  3  destroyers. 

Seventh  Division:  3  destroyers. 

SUBMARINE  FLOTILLA 

First  Division:  Severn  (tender),  5  submarines. 
Second  Division:  Tonopah  (tender),  5  submarines. 
Third  Division:  Ozark  (tender),  3  submarines. 


206  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

FLEET  AUXILIARIES 

Two  supply  ships  (Celtic  and  Culgoa). 

One  ammunition  ship  (Lebanon). 

Four  tugs  (Patapsco,  Patuxent,  Ontario,  and  Sonoma). 

One  repair  ship  (Vestal). 

One  mine  depot  ship  (San  Francisco). 

One  hospital  ship  (Solace). 

One  torpedo  training  ship  (Montana). 

One  yacht  (Yankton). 

SHIPS  IN  RESERVE 
Atlantic  Reserve  Fleet 

Battleships:  Idaho,  Maine,  Missouri,  Alabama,  Illinois, 
Kearsarge,  Kentucky,  Wisconsin,  Indiana,  Iowa, 
Massachusetts. 

Armored  Cruiser:  Tennessee  (flag). 

Scouts:  Salem. 

Repair  Ship:  Panther. 

Reserve  Torpedo  Divisions 

At  Annapolis,  Md.,  1  destroyer,  4  torpedo  boats. 
At  Charleston,  S.  C.,  5  torpedo  boats,  1  submarine. 
At  Newport,  R.  I.,  1  destroyer,  3  torpedo  boats. 

PACIFIC  OCEAN 

PACIFIC  FLEET 
Pittsburgh  (flag),  California,  Maryland. 

TORPEDO  FLOTILLA 
Iris  (tender),  5  destroyers. 

SUBMARINE  FLOTILLA 

First  Division:  Alert  (tender),  4  submarines. 
Second  Division:  Cheyenne  (tender),  3  submarines. 


APPENDIX  II  207 

FLEET  AUXILIARY 
Glacier  (supply  ship). 

SHIPS  IN  RESERVE 
Pacific  Reserve  Fleet 

Battleship:  Oregon. 

Armored    Cruisers:    West    Virginia    (flag),    Colorado, 

South  Dakota. 
Cruisers:  Albany,  Charleston,  Chattanooga,  Milwaukee, 

St.  Louis. 

2  submarines,  1  tug  (Fortune). 

Reserve  Torpedo  Division 
At  Mare  Island,  Cal.,  4  destroyers,  2  torpedo  boats. 

ASIATIC  FLEET 

First  Division:  Saratoga  (flagship),  Cincinnati,  Galves- 

ton. 
Second  Division:  Elcano,  Helena,  Quiros,  Samar,  Villa- 

lobos. 

Third  Division:  Callao,  Wilmington,  1  tug. 
Fourth  Division:  Monadnock,  Monterey,  Pampanga. 

TORPEDO  FLOTILLA 
Pompey  (tender),  5  destroyers. 

SUBMARINE  FLOTILLA 
Mohican  (tender),  6  submarines. 

FLEET  AUXILIARIES 

One  transport  (Rainbow). 
One  tug  (Wompatuck). 


208  OUE  MANY-SIDED  NAVY 

SPECIAL  SERVICE  AND  UNASSIGNED 

SPECIAL  SERVICE 

One  monitor,  1  armored  cruiser,  1  gunboat,  1  supply 
ship,  2  tugs,  3  yachts. 

GENERAL  SERVICE 

Atlantic  Ocean:  2  cruisers,  2  transports,  4  gunboats, 

1  tug,  8  fuel  ships,  26  tugs. 
Pacific  Ocean:  3  cruisers,  1  transport,  1  gunboat,  4  fuel 

ships,  7  tugs. 

IN  RESERVE 

One  armored  cruiser,  5  cruisers,  3  gunboats,  2  torpedo 
boats,  6  fuel  ships,  1  torpedo  practice  ship. 

SURVEYING  DUTY 
Three  vessels  (Eagle,  Hannibal,  Paducah). 

AERONAUTIC  STATION  SHIP 
Mississippi 

REPAIRING 
One  cruiser,  1  fuel  ship. 

OUT  OF  COMMISSION 

Four  cruisers,  2  monitors,  5  torpedo  boats,  10  gunboats, 
1  transport,  1  hospital  ship,  2  fuel  ships,  1  repair 
ship,  11  converted  yachts. 


APPENDIX  II  209 


FITTING  OUT 

Two   battleships    (New   York   and   Texas),    1   cruiser 
(Brooklyn),  2  destroyers,  6  submarines. 


UNDER  CONSTRUCTION 

Three  battleships,  12  destroyers,  11  submarines,  3  gun- 
boats, 2  fuel  ships,  3  tenders  to  torpedo  vessels. 


APi 

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APPENDIX  IV 

THE  WEEKLY  EOUTINE  ON  SHIPBOARD 


DAY 

MORNING 

FORENOON 
DRILLS 

AFTERNOON 

EVENING 

MONDAY 

Battery  or 
divisional 

Ship's  work 
Boat  exercises 
Seamanship 
instruction 

Night  sig- 
nalling or 
other  exer- 
cises 

TUESDAY 

In  port  1st 
and  3d 
Hags  and 
hammocks 

Same  as 
Monday 

Same  as 
Monday 

Same  as 
Monday 

WEDNESDAY 

Mattress 
covers 

Fire  and 
collision  and 
divisional 

Mending 
Bag  inspection 

Night  sig- 
nalling 
Searchlight 
exercises 

THURSDAY 

Boats   and 
bright 
wood  work 

General 
Quarters 

Same  as 
Monday 

Same  as 
Monday 

FRIDAY 

Hose  and 
canvas 

Air  bedding 
Overhaul   bat- 
tery.    Inspect 
material 

Inspect  bedding 
Same  as 
Monday 

Same  as 
Monday 

SATURDAY 

General 
cleaning 

Commanding 
Officer's 
Inspection 

HOLIDAY 

SUNDAY 

Quarters  for 
divisional  mus- 
ter and  inspec- 
tion at  9.30 

HOLIDAY 

INDEX 


INDEX 

Aeroplanes 133 

Alignment  and  interval  between  ships   18,  23,  78,  90 

Amalgamation  Law  of  1899 37 

Amusements  and  recreations   5,  61-63, 109 

Anchor  drills '. 32 

Annual  schedule  12, 16 

Arkansas,  U.  S.  S.,  record  made  by 196 

Asiatic  Fleet  9, 12-14, 16, 126, 145 

Athletic  finances  99-102 

Athletics  and  sports  61,  94,  96-114 

Atlantic  Fleet   1,  7,  9, 12-14, 16,  35,  85, 126, 144 

Barbary  Powers,  dealings  with,  in  1815  14 

Baseball      110-112 

Battle  efficiency  pennant   91,92 

Berry,  Heroism  of    200 

Boat  racing    60,  61,  96-98, 102-108 

Boxing  and  wrestling   108, 109 

Bridge,  Admiral  Sir  Cyprian,  B.  N.,  quoted 36,  67 

British  Navy,  ingenious  devices  learned  from 136, 160, 168 

Bugle-calls  5 

Bushnell,  David,  inventor 146 

' '  Busy  season  "   2, 17 

Caimanera       28 

California,  the  armored  cruiser 130 

Calliope,  H.  B.  M.  S.,  at  Apia 201 

Camp  Perry    125, 126 

Captain,  the    39, 40,  42 

Captain  of  Marines  43 

Caribbean  Sea    1,  26,  27, 123, 180 

Centurion,  H.  B.  M.  S.,  record  made  by 196 

Chaplain,  the 43 

Chief  Engineer,  the 43,  78 

Cleanliness  and  order  42,  57,  70 

Clearing  ship  for  action   52, 151 

Coaling  ship    52 

Collision  drill    .  ..52 


216  INDEX 

Competition:  athletic,  98,  114;  between  ships,  53,  60,  91,  92; 

engineering,  83,  86-89;  gunnery,  125,  126,  171,  181,  182; 

in  the  Navy,  20,  34,  172;  mast  against  mast,  95. 

Connecticut,  U.  S.  S.,  the 8, 126 

Courage  of  engineer 's  division  79 

Coyotepe  Hill,  attack  on  130 

Crack  shots  of  the  world  34 

Craven,  Tunis,  heroism  of  199 

Cruise  of  Atlantic  Fleet  around  the  world  85-89 

Cuba,  agreement  with 26 

Culebra    26,  27 

Cuzco   Hills    33,125 

Dana,  James  Dwight   203 

Daniels,  Secretary  15 

' '  Davids  "       147 

Deer  Point,  camp  on   33,  97, 119, 123, 124 

Delaware,  cruise  of  the 77 

De  Long,  George,  heroism  of  199 

Discipline      40,  41, 100, 101 

Diving  boat  constructed  in  1190 146 

Dixie,  the    144, 145 

"Dotter"   practice    168-170, 183, 185, 189 

Dreadnought,  H.  B.  M.  S.,  the 126 

Drill,  necessity  for   51,  52,  59 

Drills      5,  32,  60 

"Dummy   loader" 163, 164 

E-l,  record  made  by 155 

Economy  of  coal  and  oil  86,  87,  93 

Efficient  handling  of  ship  as  essential  as  accuracy  of  gun 

fire      10,  79,  80 

Electrical   Schools    72,  73 

Electricity  on  battleships 72,  73 

Emergency  repairs    20,  88,  89 

Emerson,   Harrington    195 

Engineer  department    50 

Erben,  Admiral,  quoted  167 

Evans,  Eear  Admiral  Eobley  D 30,  86,  98 

Evolutions,  practice  in  11,  33 

Examinations      71 

Executive  Officer    41, 42 

Fare   44, 57,  58,  63 

Farragut,  Admiral,  quoted    167 

Fire-control    176, 185, 186, 188-190, 192 


INDEX  217 

Fire  quarters    51,  52 

First  Lieutenant    42 

Fleet  Athletic  Board  and  rules 99, 100, 105 

Fleet  exercises   21,  23, 32 

Fleet  formation    24 

Fletcher,  R.  A.,  quoted   146 

Fulton,  Eobert,  inventor 146, 147 

"Games,  greatest  of  all"  3, 17 

General  quarters    52 

' '  Goliafhs"     147 

Great  Gun  Drill  51 

Guantanamo :  city  of,  28 ;  naval  station  at,  28,  29,  30,  31,  97,  111 

Guantanamo  Bay   1, 17,  26-35,  97, 106,  111,  112, 118, 123 

Gunnery:   156;   American  unpreparedness  in,  158,  176,  177; 

British    unpreparedness    in,    157;    loading,    aiming    and 

firing,    163-175;    revival    of    in    present-day,    159,    160, 

177,  178. 

Gunnery  Officer    43 

Hampton  Eoads   17, 105 

Hicacal  Beach 32,  97 

Holland,  John  P.,  inventor   148 

Housatonic,  the    147 

Hudson  Eiver,  fleet  assembled  in 1,  8 

Japan,  opened  to  foreign  trade 14 

Japanese  squadron  at  Port  Arthur 24 

Justice  in  the  Navy 41 

Key  West    26 

Library      48 

Lighthouse  Point   127 

London  Times  quoted  67 

Machinery  of  the  ship  78-80 

Makaroff ,  Admiral 24 

Manoeuvres      18, 19, 21 

Marine  corps   43, 128-132 

Marine  force:  American,  created  1775,  129;  British,  created 

1664,  128. 

Mascots    62 

Maury,  Matthew  Fontaine  204 

Medical    Officer    43 

Mediterranean,  American  fleet  in  cruise  to 15,  20 

Missionary  Eidge,  attack  in  1863   130 

"Movies"   63 

Music    15,  63, 108 


218  INDEX 

Narragansett  Bay   17, 106, 180 

Naval  efficiency 

viii,  67,  78,  84,  92,  93, 121, 122, 130, 131, 156-159, 180 

Navigator      43 

Navy,  the:  at  Alexandria,  Egypt,  in  1882,  115;  at  Bladens- 
burg  in  1814,  116;  at  Bull  Run  in  1861,  116;  at  Canton 
in  1854,  116;  at  Fort  Fisher  in  1865,  116;  at  Montevideo 
in  1868,  115;  at  Nicaragua  in  1912,  115,  130,  132;  at 
Sumatra  in  1832,  115;  diplomatic  and  social  duties  of, 
14-16,  117;  in  California  in  1846,  116;  in  China  in  1900, 
116;  in  Civil  War,  viii,  116,  135,  147,  164-166,  176,  185, 
196;  in  Fiji  Islands  in  1840,  115;  in  Florida  Indian  Wars 
of  1836  and  1846,  115;  in  French  War,  158;  in  Philip- 
pines, 116;  in  Revolutionary  War,  146,  158,  166,  173; 
in  Salee  River,  Corea,  in  1871,  116;  in  Tripolitan  War, 
158,  196;  in  War  of  1812,  157,.  159,  165,  167,  174,  176, 
185,  196. 

Navy 's  help  in  constructing  Panama  Canal 204 

Nelson,  Viscount  Horatio    6, 133, 174 

New  Ironsides,  the 147 

Newport,  R.  1 112 

New  Providence,  expedition  against  in  1776  115 

Night  target -practice    22 

Nindiri,  attack  at 130 

Officer-of-the-Deck      42 

Ordnance,  Bureau  of    33, 123 

Oregon,  cruise  of  the   77 

Organization  of  the  enlisted  force  46 

Organization  of  the  Navy   9,  37,  38 

Organization  of  the  ship   36,  38,  49,  50 

Pacific  Fleet   9, 12, 13, 16, 126, 145 

Pay  and  allowances  44,  46-48,  50,  58,  69,  70 

Pay  Officer   43,  58 

Petty  Officers '  Mess   45 

Phillips,  inventor   147 

Physical  welfare  of  the  men  40, 45,  76,  97 

Pillsbury,   scientist    203 

Promotion    47,  48,  50,  71 

Punishment    40 

Radio  Service  Schools  73 

Range-finder    185-187, 189 

Rations,  see  Fare. 

Reciprocating  engine  78,  80-83 


INDEX  219 

Eecruit,  training  of  161-163 

Kepairs  on  Kansas  while  under  way 88,  89 

Reserve  Fleets    9 

[Responsibilities,  how  divided    3, 4 

Eewards  and  prize  money  34, 126, 171 

Eifle  match  at  Portland,  Eng.,  in  1910 126 

Routine  on  board  5, 12, 56-64 

Russo-Japanese   conflict    133, 141 

Santiago,  Battle  of  22 

Schley  and  Emory,  heroism  of  201 

' '  Scrub  and  wash  clothes  "  57 

Sea,  training  at,  essential  5, 6, 10, 11 

Seaman-Gunners '  Classes   73 

Searchlight  drill 23 

Ship :  construction  of,  54 ;  daily  life  on 2,  3,  55-64 

Ships :  deterioration  of,  averted,  6,  7 ;  peculiarities  of 6 

Shore  operations  117-128 

Signals,  response  to   11, 19,  38,  90 

Sigsbee,  Captain  Charles  Dwight  202 

Simpson,  quoted 158 

Smoking-lamp     57,  59 

"Soldiering"   33, 117, 118, 124 

Somers,  Richard,  heroism  of  199 

Southern  Drill  Ground  180, 196 

Special  Service  Squadrons  9 

Speed  of  battleship  varied   90 

Spotter,   the    4, 186, 189, 190 

Star  Spangled  Banner,  playing  of  the 15,  56 

Steer,  Lieut.  A.  P.,  I.  R.  N 23 

Steerage,  the    44 

Stiletto,  the 141 

Submarines    133, 134, 143, 146-155 

Swimming    32,  60,  61,  98, 113 

Systematic  methods  in  engineering   83-85,  89,  92 

Talbot,  John,  heroism  of  199 

Target-practice,    17,    33,    34,    118,    124,    174,    175,    177-179; 
elementary,  180-182;  battle,  182,  183;  divisional,  183-196. 

Target  range  at  Guantanamo 33, 34, 119, 123, 124 

Telescopic  sight  176, 181, 184, 185 

Torpedo    craft    134, 135, 140 

Torpedo   destroyers    141-146, 155 

Torpedoes       133-140, 149, 155 

Torpedo  service,  popularity  of  145, 146 


220  INDEX 

Training  for  ship  duty   3-5, 11, 70,  71,  73-75, 189 

Training  for  trades  65,  66, 68-70,  72,  74,  75 

Training  stations  69 

Trenton,  U.  S.  S.,  at  Apia  201 

Trophies   99, 104-107, 113, 126 

Turbine  engine   79-83 

Two  Hundred  and  Three  Metre  Hill 29 

Villeneuve,  quoted  6 

Wadleigh,  heroism  of  200 

War  with  Spain   .....  22, 26, 36,  37, 141-143, 159, 160, 165, 166, 177 

Ward,  quoted   40 

Wardroom  mess   43 

Warrant  officers '  mess  45 

Whitehead,  inventor    136 

Wilkes  's  Exploring  Expedition 203 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  AT  LOS  ANGELES 

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